THE NEW SCHOOL OFFERS FREE SUSTAINABILITY CLASSES IN UNION SQUARE PARK
OPEN MINI-CLASSES PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GROWNYC'S GREENMARKET

April 13, 20, and 28
Southwest Corner of Union Square Park

Fabio Parasecoli, coordinator of The New School for Public Engagement's Food Studies program, lectures at the Union Square Greenmarket (Photo: Melisa Hom, 2011)

Course blocks, which are open on a drop-in basis and require no registration, run on Friday, April 13 (11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M), Friday, April 20 (11:30 A.M. to 4 P.M.) and Saturday, April 28 (2 P.M. to 4 P.M.) in the southwest corner of Union Square Park.

"The New School shares with Greenmarket a commitment to expanding access to sustainability education," said John Clinton, Director of Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at The New School's Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy. "As food takes an increasing role in the environmental conversation, the Union Square Greenmarket presents an ideal location for The New School to offer our open sustainability classes."

"Our 53 Greenmarkets serve as centers for sustainability, community, and education," said Michael Hurwitz, Greenmarket Director at GrowNYC. "We are pleased to host The New School at our flagship market to celebrate Earth Week and further engage New Yorkers in the discussion of local food, agriculture, and other ways that we can protect and improve the environment."

For the sustainability open education program, faculty and students from across The New School will present 19 mini-classes, with introductions by Greenmarket staff, including:

Can Food Studies Make Us Better Shoppers? (April 13, 11:30 A.M) with Fabio Parasecoli, coordinator of The New School for Public Engagement Food Studies program.
Fresh and Healthy Food in NYC: Why Not in All Neighborhoods? (April 20, 3 P.M.) with Kristin Reynolds, Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in Sustainable Urban Food Systems.
Greenmarkets as Food Classrooms (April 28, 2:40 P.M.), with Francis Carter, graduate student in Parsons The New School for Design's Transdisciplinary Design program.

For a full program of courses, visit The New School's News blog.

About The New School
The New School, based in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village, is a legendary, progressive university inspiring undergraduates, graduate students and others to catalyze change in an inconstant world. Founded in 1919 as a hub of intellectual freedom by a group that included Charles Beard, James Harvey Robinson, John Dewey, and Thorstein Veblen, The New School today is a major degree-granting university comprised of distinct academic divisions. The university's 10,500 students are enrolled in 88 degree programs in the humanities and social sciences, design, administration and management, and the performing arts. In addition, the university's campus welcomes 3,544 adult learners in more than 650 continuing education courses every year. The New School holds hundreds of public programs that exemplify its commitment to democratic practice and social justice. For more information, visit www.newschool.edu.

About GrowNYC

GrowNYC is a hands-on non-profit that improves New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations. GrowNYC's Greenmarket program was founded in 1976 with a two-fold mission: to promote regional agriculture by providing small family farms the opportunity to sell their locally grown products directly to consumers, and to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to the freshest, most nutritious locally grown food the region has to offer. To learn more, visit www.grownyc.org.

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