Columbia College garden producing tangible lessons, food security.

The small plot of land tucked behind office buildings on Columbia College's campus is serving a big purpose.

The newly formed Columbia College gardening club and the fruits and vegetables and herbs of its labors sprung from an idea floated by recent graduate Aaleeyah Brimmer that dovetailed with a long-held goal of college horticulturist John Long. Last spring, Long finally began to realize his ambition of transforming an unused piece of land in the heart of the campus from a neglected dumping ground for old equipment into a garden. He'd installed elevated beds and planted squash, tomatoes and okra when Brimmer had the inspiration to form the gardening club as part of a course project.

"We have an area that was totally useless and wasted and now has become a gathering point and something productive," Long said.

Joyce Fields, the director of Columbia College's Child and Family Studies program, said projects such as the gardening club stem from a three-part core curriculum that introduces students to community service and the concept of social change. After taking social justice classes with a community service component as freshmen and sophomores, students research and develop a project proposal to spark social change as juniors. They can develop that project during an independent leadership project as seniors.

"It's a tangible way of making what we study real and important," said Fields, who served as advisor as Brimmer chartered the club and sought funding for it from both student government and community supporters. "We count on these women to be leaders in the world, but they have to create the change they want to see."

Tamara Burk, a Columbia College communication professor, directs the college's Philanthropy, Leadership and Community Engagement program. She said Brimmer wanted to help the garden provide a source of fresh produce that would help ensure food security in the community. "We have huge issues of food access in the 29203 area," Burk said. "We're trying to do our small part."

The college has teamed up with Rare Variety Caf, a vegan restaurant that opened in November at 4622 N. Main St. Owner Bonita Clemons was on hand for...