Slade Hall…Redstone Campus…At the center of the foundations of our home is our kitchen and across from it our bountiful pantry.

Just as food is central and indeed vital to the human, so is our house built around nourishment. In speaking of our house, I speak in a broader sense, meaning our way of life as a cooperative house.

The “we” is royal: I mean the twenty-five students and one Resident Advisor in residence here at 420 South Prospect Street. The twenty-six of us are here for diverse reasons but, essentially, we like food, and so we make good food.

Slade is a solid house-a mansion really-comprised of singles and a few other rooms that serve many purposes. Our living room, for instance, is used variously as a dining hall, plant nursery, tennis court, yoga space, etc., and in our basement, adjacent the kitchen we host open-mikes, potluck dinners, midgets, and small, free musical acts. Phish once played down there.

The reader is warmly encouraged to attend and enjoy everything except the midgets, there are usually fliers posted around campus.

Many of us are environmental majors of one sort or another, and there is a general reverence for our planet that is comforting and that becomes a respect for those we live with, or perhaps it’s the other way around. In any case, we are a friendly bunch, and we try to be much of our time outside, outdoors, and in trees, so stop by and hang out with us. We love trees.

We are called the environmental cooperative but I don’t really know what that means.

Generally we don’t flush the toilets after peeing, and we spend a lot of time in our greenhouse.

Our food is vegetarian in nature and all organic. We find this last point truly important. All of our grains, fruits, nuts, cheeses, olive oils, milk, vegetables are organic.

If you’re skeptical about the difference between food raised organically and conventionally raised farm produce, we say the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding around here is dank and it has raisins in it.

If you’re hungry, on Thursdays we usually have a lot of company, though you’re welcome any night so come around five on weeknights and help us cook dinner. We’ve got it good and we like to share.

Sending out love from the home in all directions to everyone forever, always,

Slade