Hana Dussan, a third-year communication disorders and sciences student,wrote about a program that serves the Eugene Latinx community, Huerto de la Familia. Dussan first heard of the organization when she volunteered at one of its gardens as a member of OSPIRG. Her first intention with the story was to simply let the broader Eugene community know that the organization existed, she said, as it relied on word of mouth for advertising.

Finding sources was troublesome for Dussan. Although she “knew people [from OSPIRG] that volunteered,” she “had a conflict of interest” due to her affiliation with the student group, she said. Instead, Dussan reached out directly to the organizers of Huerto de Familia through the contact information listed on its website.

“I didn’t want it to be too statistic-y,” Dussan said. “I really wanted to focus on the people and the impact that just one person could make.”

However, as she interviewed Elva Webster, the garden and community engagement coordinator, Dussan discovered a larger story.

“It turned into a piece about how food is tied into cultural identity,” Dussan said. “I think the most successful thing [about the article] was telling [Webster’s] story. Even though she’s not living in Mexico, those traditions never left her.”

Dussan has been an A&C reporter for the Daily Emerald since June and this is her second cover story.