Students got the opportunity to judge BBQ competition

Over the 2023 Labor Day Holiday weekend, students from Dr. Pascoe's "Southern Foodways and Traditions" course and Dr. Welborn's "Southern Pitmastery: History of Race and BBQ in the U.S. Civil War Era" course participated in a service-learning activity at the local non-profit Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, GA. Students provided volunteer staff assistance for the annual "Q for the Few Backyard Barbecue Competition" hosted by Jon Jackson of Comfort Farms. Some students got the opportunity to judge the BBQ competition. John Gilley, a junior history major, served as one of the 12 judges and said that it was an “awesome experience."

Both courses are part of the Global Foodways Studies Program in the Department of History & Geography at Georgia College & State University. This is an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate program that focuses on patterns of food production, distribution, consumption and associated cultural meanings to enable students to better understand history, society and culture in the past and present as they look toward the future. Service-learning opportunities, such as this event and other experiential learning experiences, are an essential part of the program curriculum in all foodways courses.

Comfort Farms is the nation’s first Acute Veterans Crisis Agriculture center.  It prepares veterans and students for careers in sustainable food production that integrates economic profitability, environmental stewardship and healing through the use of a model of Agro-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and organic holistic approaches. The farm serves veterans in acute situations where time and help are critical. Comfort Farms provides shelter and peer-to-peer therapy to veterans and their families so that they can regain strength and re-boot for everyday life. With the support of the USDA through agricultural grants, Comfort Farms has provided services to several hundred veterans and their families.