I was sitting in the Chapel forum the other day, listening to the Seekers of the Word, when a joke was made regarding the decorative cabbage that we have on campus.

That joke spurred a thought in my mind. If we can grow decorative cabbage, why can’t we grow real, edible cabbage? There are hungry people in Abilene. The more I thought about it, the more realistic the idea became.

On ACU’s campus, we already have a wonderful grounds staff that keeps everything in order year-round as well as healthy soil that produces beautiful plants. We go to numerous Bible classes. We’re taught that we need to work in God’s world and reach His people. We have the entire Service Learning Center for this purpose. If we are a university that is going to claim to be “exceptional, innovative, and real” then we need to be just that.

We have the resources to produce a large quantity of fresh, nutritious food for the people of this community; what’s stopping us? Some may worry that it won’t be as aesthetically pleasing as the pansies. Think about that thought out loud. It sounds ridiculous.We don’t want to grow food for the community because the campus won’t look as aesthetically pleasing?

That is nothing but selfish on the university’s part. It is certainly not the attitude of Jesus. We have the resources and the opportunity, what are we going to do?

Jennifer Carpenter