Although some Dartmouth graduates hope for financial success after graduation, few fear living in poverty an Ivy League degree. But for Charles White '03, living below the poverty line is all part of the job.
As a volunteer for Americorps Volunteers In Service To America, White is working for an organization called Rural Action, in Athens, Ohio and the surrounding rural area. The organization's mission is to promote economic, social and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio.
As a VISTA volunteer, White receives a salary of $785 per month before taxes, which puts his income significantly below the poverty line. According to White, his situation has helped him understand what it is like to be a member of the community in which he works.Despite the low income, he has not experienced a significant change in his lifestyle.
"It doesn't mean I don't have clothes or enough food to eat," he said, citing restaurant dinners, movies and cable television as some of the modern comforts he goes without. "It's easy just to live on the basics. It's a no-frills approach to life."
That approach requires White to grow much of his own food. He also employs methods for making meals more affordable, through freezing or processing food and using jars for storage during the winter.
White's job takes him throughout the Appalachian region, an area he describes as economically depressed, with a well-established local food network consisting of numerous farmers, restaurants that purchase their food and some significant food processing plants.
White's work has been focused mainly on farmers and rural food entrepreneurs who want to start businesses based on local foods.
One of these projects involves a produce auction that volunteers established in the local Amish community of Chester Hill. Twice a week, the Amish sell fruits, vegetables, crafts and baked goods to their highest bidders. White said he buys the food he cannot grow himself at the biweekly auction.
With the auction in its inaugural year, White has been working on publicity and promotion, as well as reaching out to commercial buyers.
In another project, White works with a group of local farmers who are raising pastured poultry -- chickens raised on grass and bugs outside instead of commercial feed in indoor cages. White has been working with the group to build a processing facility nearer to the farmers that would increase poultry production.
White first became interested in agriculture during his sophomore summer, when he took an ecological agriculture course on Dartmouth's organic farm. The class ignited White's interest in growing food, and he worked as a student manager on the farm for the next two summers.
A geography major, White pursued coursework related to agriculture, soil science and ecology.
"I was able to build my entire Dartmouth experience around agriculture. Having the organic farm there was just a huge inspiration and a huge resource for me," White said.
After graduation, White explored several facets of agriculture before applying to Americorps. In the fall of 2003, he traveled to Bolivia with another Dartmouth student to teach workshops on how to grow apple trees.
Afterwards he joined an organization called American Forests in Washington, D.C. He returned to Bolivia once more before working for his uncle, who was creating a fledgling organic farm in Virginia.
White began his job with Rural Action last month. After he completes his one-year position with Americorps, White plans to attend graduate school to pursue a master's degree in soil science.
"My passion is agriculture and some way or another, I'll continue in this field," White said, reflecting on the connections between food, the earth and food producers that absorb his day-to-day life.
White spoke enthusiastically about working with farmers who understand these connections and strive each day to improve the soil and protect the land.
"I love that connection between the food and the earth and myself," he said. "I love being involved with restaurants and other food entrepreneurs who share that same sense of respect for food and the earth. It's a really amazing culture to be involved in.... That's what keeps me going."
