The Duke University Medical Center Archives is happy to announce that the Root Causes Records are open to researchers. The collection contains the groups’ administrative files, which date from 2017 to 2022. Files document the group's meetings, email communications, budget information, grant materials, public relations, education and outreach, event planning, articles of incorporation, and organizational structure.
Root Causes, a Duke led student group first organized in 2016, was created by health professionals with the mission to support sustainable and humane production of food in combination with access to healthy food. Through their efforts to serve, advocate, and educate they hope to involve the Duke medical community in improving the health of their patients and community through a stronger local food system. They offer a variety of programs including the Fresh Produce Program to provide a food delivery system to serve low income patients in Durham; the Healthy Harvest Program to address the intersection among gardening, fresh food, and health through engaging community members in gardening at Serenity Community Garden, providing miniature gardening kits, and education materials to grow herbs and microgreens; Healthy STEPS (Students-in-Training Exercise Partnership Service) to better connect low income Duke patients with low cost, easily accessible physical activity programming within the Durham community to improve overall health; and Wellnest: Housing Support Program, which seeks to address the gap in “tenancy support” and includes the structural and social support needed to help ease the transition from homelessness. You can read more about the important and valuable work they do on their website, as well as find some tasty recipes.
To learn more about these materials, visit the finding aid or contact the archives staff.
This blog post was contributed by Medical Center Archives Assistant Director Lucy Waldrop.