A New Way to Play With Your Food

Anne Winberry

On Wednesday March 30, the presentation in Hillwood Commons gave a whole new meaning to playing with your food. At the event, several faculty members, including Provost Dr. Paul Forestell, introduced the new summer courses promoting the idea of sustainability.  The sustainability courses that will be offered this summer will focus on improving the environment and helping students become one with the Earth.  Courses are being offered by several different colleges in the university, and include classes in journalism, history, art and biology.

Keynote speaker and professor of Art Richard Mills said sustainability in the environment is difficult to achieve, however we should all make an attempt to try. “We are inseparable from nature, we are nature,” Mills said, “It is you and us together that will make the new stories.”

The highlight of the presentation was an interesting and unique performance by Music Department professor, Dale Stuckenbruck and the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra. He and several students played instruments made out of many different types of vegetables, creating a rousing performance that had the crowd amazed. He showed the audience how he creates the instruments and demonstrated the sounds they make. “You’re creating things from everything around you,” Stuckenbruck said, “Food around you can comfort you besides with taste.”

The orchestra consisted of squash, lemon grass, onions, eggplant and celery, just to name a few. After the performance, all vegetables were to be enjoyed by Snowball, a resident horse at the C.W. Post Equestrian Center, or placed in the compost machine in the Interfaith Center. said, “Nothing goes to waste here in an effort to maintain sustainability.”