"I learn about resilience from my garden": Solara Goldwynn of Royal Roads University

What is the relationship between BPD and food security? BPD and food insecurity are prevalent among university students, and research shows that poor diets, both in terms of insufficient calories and an overreliance on ultra-processed foods, fuel mood dysregulation, depression, and suicidality. I believe that most universities could do more to support student food security, food sovereignty in the community, and overall mental well-being through food gardens. In this interview, I’ll be speaking with Solara Goldwynn, the farm and food systems lead for a food-growing initiative at Royal Roads University, which is dedicated to sustainability and partnerships with local Indigenous communities. She also explains how gardening can increase resilience.

Solara’s food garden business: www.hatchetnseed.ca 

Community Food Centres Canada: https://cfccanada.ca/en/Home

Diane Ackerman, Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden

Richard Dal Monte, “How Does This Garden Grow . . . Community?” https://www.royalroads.ca/news/how-does-garden-grow-community

Bonnie Kaplan and Julia J. Rucklidge, “Junk Food and the Brain: How Modern Diets Lacking in Micronutrients May Contribute to Angry Rhetoric: https://theconversation.com/junk-food-and-the-brain-how-modern-diets-lacking-in-micronutrients-may-contribute-to-angry-rhetoric-170863

The Maple Leaf Centre for Food Community: https://www.feedopportunity.com/

Nathan Sing, “The Fight to End Hunger on Canadian University Campuses”: https://education.macleans.ca/feature/the-fight-to-end-hunger-on-canadian-university-campuses/

Sue Stuart-Smith, The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature

Prudence Vivarini et al., “Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms in Individuals with Eating Disorder: Association with Severity, Psychological Distress, and Psychosocial Function”

Jan Zwicky, Once Upon a Time in the West: Essays on the Politics of Thought and Imagination