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I'm Elza Thomas I'm a rising third-year
at UVA, majoring in psychology and

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sustainability. My summer has been spent working as a Morven Food Lab fellow at

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New Roots farm, which is a project of the
International Rescue Committee. New Roots

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provides land for farmers who are former
refugees who came to Charlottesville

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from places where there is war or other
crisis. The farmers that we work with

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grow food for other refugee families and
the public for sale through our

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neighborhood farm stand. This summer
I've not only been working in the New

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Roots community gardens, I've also
been working with the city of

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Charlottesville to try to get traffic
calming measures passed in Mickey Drive

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to make it more safe for people to
access the neighborhood farm stand. A lot

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of these farmers are coming from places
where they are used to growing their own

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food. Coming into a new place where you don't

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have the food you once ate, it can be
really challenging. Kind of giving them

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that food access is an important mission
of the New Roots program. I've always

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been interested in agriculture and
growing my own food and a big part of my

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UVA experience has been about learning
what it will take to create a more

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sustainable food system. The Morven food lab fellowship made it possible for me

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to bring what I've learned here out into
Charlottesville and make a difference.