Christina Gutierrez Strives to Spread Her Passion for Fresh, Local Food Wherever She Goes

By Christina Gutierrez (2011) | After learning about the many places across the globe I lived as a child, you might expect that my love for urban farming and gardening was cultivated in one of these exotic locales.

When I was five years old, my family left Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Lima, Peru. A few years later we moved again—this time, to Santiago, Chile. Then several years after that, we moved to Torgiano, Italy.

We knew we wouldn’t stay in Italy forever—particularly because living on a farm, as we did there, was a completely foreign experience to us, but also because we had no family near us. So less than a year later, we moved back to the United States and settled in Minnesota, where we’ve lived ever since.

And it was in Minnesota, of all places, that my passion for agriculture began to flourish.

My love of everything having to do with fresh, local, and organic food as well as nutrition and sustainable agriculture began with the many books I read on these topics throughout high school. When my youngest brother was diagnosed with cancer, I began to further research the effects of added chemicals to our foods and how they, in turn, affect us.

I began gardening at home after my freshman year of high school, growing crops such as tomatoes, eggplant, lettuces, squashes, and a plethora of herbs, all fueled by our home-churned compost, which fertilizes without the use of any synthetic chemicals. I wanted our high school to begin composting food from the cafeteria and start a community garden, but the administration was very much opposed to both.

When I traveled to Atlanta to spend a weekend with all of the highly motivated and inspiring Coca-Cola Scholars in the spring of 2011, I was so inspired by the people I met on the trip that I returned home ready to research what I could do to help convince the administration at Cretin-Derham Hall about the benefits of an organic community garden.

That research paid off. After many meetings with teachers, students, the assistant principal, and the principal, I convinced them of the benefits of a community garden. Purchasing the materials, digging up the ground, planting seeds, watering, and making signs all were accomplished through community collaboration. Now the plot brings students, faculty, parents, and alumni together to work and enjoy the fruits of their labor. The garden also is used for educational purposes, not only for science classes but also to help model healthy food options to students. Now that the garden is in full bloom, we have more than 12 species growing in it!

Next year I’ll be attending the University of Notre Dame, where there is no organic garden—yet. After reading as much as I can about the topics of food and nutrition and experiencing a close family member who may have become sickened by the chemicals in food, I have a rejuvenated passion for creating chemical-free and nutritious food.

Having overcome the obstacles of starting a community garden at my high school, laying all the groundwork to get the garden growing, and being recognized as a dedicated and passionate Coca-Cola Scholar, I know I can push through the obstacles ahead of me and plan to establish many more gardens in my life.

Christina Gutierrez is a 2011 Coca-Cola Scholar from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Cretin-Derham Hall High School and will be attending Notre Dame in the fall, where she plans to double-major in nutrition and romance languages, with a minor in sustainability.