Getting Schooled in Citizenship

It’s not often that you return from a conference re-energized, enthusiastic and raving about the food.  But this summer, at the Alternative Breaks Citizenship School (ABCs) sponsored by BreakAway, each of these things was true for me.

For eight days, I stayed in a decommissioned air force base in Sacramento, CA, with about sixty others who are committed to alternative breaks as a tool for social change. The ABCs are a hybrid experience – equal parts training conference and alternative break trip, with a dash of dancing and skits.  We spent part of our days in sessions learning about things like the Active Citizen continuum, how to lead reflection, and effective techniques for issue education.

The rest of the days were spent engaging in our issue, “The High Price of Cheap Food.”  We explored the struggles of migrant farm families, national and international policy around migrant labor, and the food system in general – from factory-style “big food” to local farmers and more sustainable practices.

Our service projects took us to child development centers at three different migrant family housing areas.  Each one was about 40 to 60 minutes from our home base, and any time you drive that long close to Sacramento, you’re going to see some farms and fields.  Sunflowers, hay, alfalfa, peppers, and tomatoes…so many tomatoes!  Given our current system of food production in this country, there was a good chance that some of the tomatoes growing in those fields would one day end up in my pasta sauce or on my salad plate.

I took away many lessons from the ABCs, ranging from a deeper understanding of what it would take to make our food system more sustainable, to goofy techniques for breaking up large groups into smaller groups for conversation (hand twins, anyone?).  In the weeks since the ABCs, I have seen the power of the BreakAway model, and how bringing issue education, reflection and reorientation into every service project we do, enriches student learning and forms active citizens.