Inside Human Sciences

VanderPlas travels Ecuador, Uganda to advance food, health

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Inside Human Sciences News Index

May 19, 2008

Photo of Darrin VanderPlas in front of very high waterfall

Darrin VanderPlas, a junior in kinesiology, feels mist from a waterfall during a recent trip to Ecuador to study fair trade. VanderPlas is heading to Uganda this summer to teach sustainable agriculture to school children and their families. Contributed photo.

By Carrie Boyd, Student Journalist

“I think it’s important to get an international perspective,” said Darrin VanderPlas, a junior in kinesiology. “You start to understand the world a little better and start to feel a little bit more connected.”

VanderPlas has had the opportunity to spread his Human Sciences education around the globe.

“I’m always excited to get out of my element and try new things,” VanderPlas said.

With a program emphasis in community and public health, VanderPlas recently traveled to Ecuador and is gearing up for a summer stint in Uganda, where he will see “how agricultural practices affect communities [and] populations.”

Over winter break, VanderPlas studied on a two-week program, entitled “Analysis of Food and Agricultural Systems in Ecuador,” that involved traveling around Ecuador and analyzing farming systems, including the group’s first stop at a fair trade banana plantation.

“I have an interest in how we can make agriculture sustainable — because food is directly linked to health and fair trade — and how [sustainable agriculture] affects communities and makes them stronger,” VanderPlas said.

Through interviews with Ecuadorian farmers and farm managers, VanderPlas said he learned the benefits of fair trade, including applying the farm’s profits to improved working conditions and equipment. He learned how to provide supplies for laborers’ families. VanderPlas also studied the importance of offering laborers healthcare, including regular “testing for harmful chemical residues in their bodies,” he explained.

“I learned so much in just a small period of time,” VanderPlas said.

VanderPlas works at Wheatsfield Cooperative, an Ames grocery store that “works with local farmers and organic produce,” which VanderPlas said sparked his interest in how agriculture affects health.

“I was interested in the connection of food to health, and from working with local farmers [through Wheatsfield] and then going on the trip to Ecuador, I started to see where my passion was,” VanderPlas said.

Seeing all the produce sold at Wheatsfield Cooperative helps VanderPlas connect to the farms and communities that grow bananas, he said.

The agronomy and horticulture study-abroad program, “Service Learning in Uganda: Creating a School Garden,” gives seven undergraduate Iowa State students a chance to work in Uganda with primary school children. The group will travel to the Kamuli district of Namasagali for about five weeks to teach primary school children the importance of agriculture and show them how nutrition directly affects both personal and community health.

In Namasagali, primary school gardens are tended by students. The food they grow is used in their school lunch programs. Expanding on subjects the students are already using in their normal classroom schedule, VanderPlas will “help teach nutrition, agriculture and health to the primary school students.”

The program is bi-national and includes Ugandan university students, as well.

Iowa State students collaborate with in small groups with students from Makarere University who also serve as role models for the primary school students.

Vanderplas said his goals for his Uganda experience are both personal and academic.

“Hopefully [the primary school students will share what they learn with their families] and change their perspectives on growing food,” VanderPlas said.

“Academically, I hope to get better idea of some of the issues that arise when confronting international development and getting to see some of the problems that aren’t [as prevalent] in America, such as HIV, AIDS and poor water quality,” VanderPlas said. “Personally, I want to learn more about the children and the community in Uganda — and about myself.”

After he graduates, VanderPlas plans to join the Peace Corps and then return to the United States to “probably get a master’s after that,” he said.

“My goal is to work internationally with non-profits. What would be wonderful would be if I could work with a fair trade group,” VanderPlas said. “Basically, agriculture has such an impact on the health of communities, I want to find out how to develop communities sustainably in other countries,” he said.

"I think it’s important to get an international perspective. You start to understand the world a little better and start to feel a little bit more connected."

Photo of Darrin with Equator sign

Darrin VanderPlas stands on the equator while visiting Ecuador over winter break. Through study abroad, VanderPlas is spanning the globe to learn more about world — and is learning more about himself in the process, he says. Contributed photo.