FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

March 17, 2008

GRINNELL COLLEGE STUDENTS WIN AWARD TO CREATE LOCAL PROJECT FOR PEACE

GRINNELL, IA - A group of Grinnell College students will implement one of 100 Davis Projects for Peace this summer, thanks to a $10,000 award from the Davis World College Scholar Program. Four Grinnell students won the Davis Peace award to implement a local foods project in the community of Grinnell.

Davis Projects for Peace are funded by Kathryn Wasserman Davis, a lifelong internationalist and philanthropist who sees an urgent need to spark initiatives that build prospects for peace in the world. She has committed $1 million to fund 100 grassroots projects through a competition on 88 college and university campuses.

The Grinnell project expects to improve access to local foods for low-income families by subsidizing an existing community-supported-agriculture program and by familiarizing children with local food production methods. The summer project will collaborate with Mid-Iowa Community Action to enable families to connect with local producers and learn to make the most effective and nutritious use of available produce.

An integral part of the Grinnell peace project is work with the Grinnell-Newburg School District to establish a greenhouse at the high school and to incorporate related activities into the curriculum. The college student group has already begun discussions with the district’s food service director to eventually include more local produce in the school lunch program, where more than one-third of students receive free and reduced lunches.

Grinnell College students involved in implementing the equitable food access project are: Meredith Groves, a senior from Centennial, Colo.; Vicky Mercer, a second-year student from Geneseo, Ill.; Eric Nost, a third-year student from West Branch, Ia.; and Alex Reich, a first-year student from Mahtomedi, Minn.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

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