When Rachel MacHenry began teaching in the fashion program she met with program Chair Joseph Medaglia and Jessica Russel from TMU’s Urban Farm to discuss offering a natural dye course. The result of this discussion is a class in which students harvest plants and turn them into natural dyes for clothing all while developing a holistic understanding of sustainable fashion and farming.
As MacHenry explained on the Podagogies podcast, students in this course learn to “understand that everything they’re working with is a gift from the earth.” She hopes that students who take this course leave with the confidence and knowledge to work sustainably with resources found in the natural world.
About TMU’s Urban Farm
The Urban Farm operates two rooftop farms on campus to produce and distribute food, facilitate research and engage the community through ecological rooftop farming and food justice initiatives. The Urban Farm strives to support the health and well-being of the community and surrounding ecosystem by using practices that are ecologically, socially and financially just. This includes growing foods, medicines and plants that are culturally significant to many communities by applying diverse knowledges, foodways and growing techniques.