edible campus gardens

Bringing Fresh & Local to U

August 5, 2019

Have you ever experienced the perfect peach? Firm flesh with an intoxicating perfume almost as exquisite as the flavor? It is something that can’t adequately be described with words. The perfect peach is still warm from the sun because it was picked the same day you bite into it. To experience this peach you need to know the farmer who grew it who can tell you how they protected the blossoms from that late spring storm and nurtured the soil in the fall to create this peach just for you. To experience this peach, you have to come to the farmers market.

This year, the University of Utah Farmers Market celebrates its 12th season. The market, managed by the Sustainability Office, links local growers and artisans with the campus community and provides access to fresh, healthy, local produce and unique arts and crafts. Dozens of vendors attend the market each week. At our Edible Campus Gardens stand you can even purchase produce grown right here on campus. More than 5,000 people walk through the market on an average Thursday, thanks to its central location on the Tanner Plaza between the Union Building and Student Services Building.

If you haven’t been to the U Farmers Market, there are a number of features that make it unique. All students of the U are eligible for our Double Your Dollars program, which provides students with twice as much money to spend on grocery items (produce, packaged items like cheese or honey, etc.). Last season, the Double Your Dollars program helped more than 600 students access fresh, local food. This year’s Double Your Dollars funding has been expanded through the generous support of the market’s presenting sponsor, Harmons Grocery. As a family-owned and locally run grocer, Harmons has a reputation for investing in local producers and bringing fresh local flavors to your table. This year they will be sharing some recipes for easy, nutritious, affordable meals, as well as low carbon meals and hosting cooking classes for students.  With two locations close to campus serviced by public transit (Emigration Market and City Creek) Harmons Grocery is easily accessible to students and employees.  Additional market sponsors include University of Utah Health, KRCL, Ray Olpin Union, ASUU and Raclette Machine.

This year, for the first time, scholarships are available to cover booth fees for new food businesses. Only vendors that have been established in the past 24 months are eligible to apply. Priority is given to vendors from underrepresented groups. This year’s scholarship recipients are Bee-Craft & Icy Mountain. Bee-Craft produces high-quality natural honey and other beehive products. Icy Mountain is a new gourmet shaved ice truck that offers unique toppings and flavors. The market is still accepting applications from produce and packaged food vendors. Students and employees are encouraged to apply, and vendor fee discounts are available to university students and employees. Applications are only accepted online.

Regular market attendees will be pleased to learn that many of last year’s favorite vendors will be returning. New vendors will be offering a wide array of delicious food and beautiful crafts.

So, mark your calendar for Thursdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. starting August 22nd so you can meet the farmer who has grown a peach just for you.

REAL FOOD, REAL PROGRESS

March 8, 2019

Orginially posted on @theU on March 8, 2019.

By Jess Kemper, sustainable food systems manager, Office of Sustainability

Did you know that making good choices about the food we eat not only improves our health, but can support better labor conditions, improve the environment and keep profits in our local economy? Unfortunately, making poor choices can have the opposite impact.

Research conducted by University of Utah students on Dining Services’ purchases shows the U is moving in a positive direction.

In 2015, U President David Pershing signed the Real Food Campus Commitment, making the U part of a national campaign for food justice and committing our Dining Services to buy at least 20 percent “real food” by the year 2020. Food is considered “real” if it falls under one of four categories: humane, ecologically sound, fair or community-based.

The Real Food Challenge is backed by a student group focused on where their food comes from. Every other year, these students perform an audit of Dining Services’ purchases to determine the percentage of real food purchased. Wrapping up the research for the 2017-18, students found that Dining Services purchased 14.6 percent real food which is up from 12.3 percent in 2015.

Successes were seen in real poultry products, a 62 percent rise from 4 percent in 2015 to 66 percent in 2018. This was a result of the shift to a local poultry supplier, Wasatch Meats. Real baked goods rose to 62 percent in 2018 from 56 percent in 2015 by shifting to Beni Bakery Distributors. Real beverage and grocery purchases also saw a 6 percent and 2 percent bump, respectively.

After the audit is finalized the students produce recommendations on all food product purchases. For example, they determined that by only shifting 64 percent of non-real dairy dollars to real dairy the total real food percentage would increase to 20 percent. This would allow the campus to reach its goal one year early. If they switched all tea, coffee and meat to real, the U could report 27 percent, well above the goal, of its food purchases as humane, ecologically sound, fair or community-based.

“University Dining Services is optimistic in meeting the goal by 2020,” said Jennifer Nielsen, sustainability and safety coordinator, Chartwells-University Dining Services. “We are thankful for university and student support as we aim for the 20 percent benchmark. Our goal is to support our hard-working staff and dedicated students by continuing to serve local and quality products expected at the U. We strive to strengthen our U community through robust partnerships, and growing and implementing sustainable ideas.”

To read more about the results of the audit, click here. The next audit will start Fall Semester of 2019. If you are interested in joining the Real Food Challenge student group or researching real food as a paid intern, please e-mail Jessica Kemper at jessica.kemper@utah.edu. And learn more about the short- and long-term objectives related to building sustainable food systems on campus here.

GOOD TO GROW

September 17, 2018

Originally published in Continuum on September 17, 2018.

Jessica Kemper, coordinator of the U’s Edible Campus Gardens, shows off produce from this season’s abundant harvest at their garden east of Pioneer Memorial Theatre. Kemper helps organize more than 75 student volunteers, who work shifts year round composting, trellising, weeding, planting, and harvesting at both the Pioneer Garden and their plot by the Sill Center. Come fall, there is enough produce to donate to the Feed U Pantry, share with volunteers, and sell at the U’s Farmers Market, which takes place Thursdays just west of the Union Building from mid-August to early October.

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Farmers Market by the Numbers

December 7, 2017

Each Thursday during the first seven weeks of school, the University of Utah Farmers Market transforms Tanner Plaza from a sitting area to a thriving community. For anyone who has walked through the space, it is easy to see why the farmers market is a favorite fall activity for students, staff, faculty, and community members alike.

The Double Your Dollars program returned for the fifth year, thanks to support from U of U Health. This program enabled students and SNAP recipients to purchase $1-for-$1 tokens that could be used on grocery-like items.

“It was a great year to be part of the market! Our vendors provided opportunities for students to take home community-based food, and with the Double Your Dollars program these options become more affordable for students” said Jessica Kemper, Farmers Market Manager

Here is a look at the successes of the 2017 season, by the numbers:

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10 YEARS OF SUSTAINABILITY

September 27, 2017

Originally posted in @theU on Sept. 22, 2017.

By Amy Brunvand, Sustainability Librarian.

The University of Utah Sustainability Office turns 10 years old this year, and it is truly amazing to look around campus and realize how much has changed for the better in the past decade. Nowadays, there are campus vegetable gardens with ripe tomatoes and hives of buzzing bees, solar parking canopies that provide both power and shade, electric vehicles plugged into charging stations, crowds of students arriving on TRAX light-rail trains, tasty vegetarian and vegan options on offer at the cafeteria, water bottle refilling stations in most buildings, and plenty of recycling bins to divert waste from the landfill.

The curriculum has changed, too. Undergraduates can earn a number of sustainability-focused degrees and minors, while graduate students in any field can add an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Sustainability to their credentials.

Over the years, students, staff and faculty have all contributed to a vision of making the University of Utah a better place. In September, the Sustainability Office will celebrate these milestones and achievements with a Sustainability Showcase highlighting current programs and resources, and a special presentation by Dr. Vandana Shiva who advocates for traditional agriculture, and environmental and social justice issues worldwide.

Join us at the Sustainability Showcase on Friday, Sept. 29, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on the Marriott Library Plaza for food, live music and fun activities. Later this fall, Dr. Vandana Shiva will present a public lecture at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on Saturday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m., as part of UtahPresents 2017-18 season. Tickets are available now.

1991-2006: Early Beginnings of Sustainability

Ten years ago, the transition to campus sustainability had barely begun, although a few major milestones laid the foundation. The first big sustainable change was a side effect of trying to cope with limited parking; in 1991, Commuter Services launched the Ed Pass program to give a UTA transit pass to every student and employee on campus. Not only did this encourage people to leave their cars at home, it helped expand Salt Lake City’s light rail network when enthusiastic transit riders from the U showed up at City Council meetings to press for construction of the Red Line TRAX, which opened in 2001.

In 1996, a biology professor named Fred Montague started an “unofficial” campus vegetable garden to teach students about his ideas for ecological gardening. That unofficial garden became the foundation of today’s Edible Campus Gardens, which teaches volunteers how to grow food, supports organic gardening curriculum and sells produce at the University of Utah Farmers Market. By 2006, the university had also constructed the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Health Sciences Education Building, the first LEED-certified building which incorporated efficient use of energy and water, waste reduction and consideration of human health in the building’s design, construction, operations and maintenance.

These efforts were significant, but they weren’t yet part of a unified drive to implement sustainability on campus.

2007-2014: The Sustainability Office Forms

Divergent efforts began to coalesce in 2007, with the formation of the Sustainability Office (then called the Sustainability Resource Center), underneath Facilities Management.

Something like the Sustainability Office doesn’t happen without visionaries. The idea was originally proposed by students, but it was City & Metropolitan Planning faculty member Craig B. Forster who led the effort to make the idea work. Forster, who became the first director, was a natural fit with sustainability. He was interested in facilitating interdisciplinary research and bridging the gaps between science and public policy. He also had a talent for bringing people together and was deeply involved with the local community. In the summertime, he was often seen at the Pioneer Park farmers’ market playing cimbalom (a kind of hammered dulcimer) with his Hungarian Táncház band.

With only one full-time staff member and some volunteers, the Sustainability Office got to work organizing recycling at football games, installing the first solar panels on campus, setting up a campus farmers’ market, making sure that sustainability was included in the Campus Master Plan and developing a student fee to support student-led sustainability projects through the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund. On Earth Day 2008, University of Utah President Michael K. Young signed the American College & University President’s Climate Commitment, dedicating the university to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The year ended in tragedy, though, when Forster died in a hiking accident.

Despite the loss of Forster, the university persevered with a vision for making sustainability integral to its operations. In 2009, after a competitive nationwide search, architect and planner Myron Willson was appointed the next director of the office.

2014-2017: Sustainability is Integrated into Academic Affairs

In 2014, the Sustainability Office made another big change to adapt to the growing campus. Originally, the office was on the organizational chart under Facilities Management with the idea that university employees would take care of recycling, xeriscaping, transit passes and such.

But then an interesting thing happened. Students were getting more and more interested in sustainable change. They wanted to try out their ideas, and the campus was the most natural place for them to do so. With the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF) now up and running, grants were available for student-led sustainability projects. The university had become a living laboratory for sustainable change, and sustainability-focused courses had popped up in academic departments all over campus. With so much involvement in interdisciplinary research and learning, the Sustainability Office moved into Academic Affairs, and Associate Vice President for Faculty and law professor Amy Wildermuth was named Chief Sustainability Officer in 2014. Wildermuth added Adrienne Cachelin, Environmental & Sustainability Studies faculty to the team as the director of sustainability education to guide burgeoning sustainability education efforts across campus.

Under Wildermuth, the Sustainability Office also joined forces with the Global Change and Sustainability Center (GCSC), founded in 2010 by biology professor Jim Ehleringer to foster interdisciplinary sustainability research. Nowadays, under Director Brenda Bowen, Geology & Geophysics faculty, the 129 faculty affiliates of the GCSC represent nine colleges. The center supports graduate students through grants and fellowships, offers an interdisciplinary research seminar series, faculty networking opportunities, assistance for large interdisciplinary grants and core courses in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Sustainability curriculum.

Sustainability is You: The Next 10 Years

Today, the Sustainability Office team includes fourteen faculty and staff members as well as numerous student interns and volunteers and continues to expands its scope. Though much progress has been made, sustainability is an ongoing effort, and there is still a lot of work to do.

This year, the Sustainability Office celebrates 10 years of dedicated efforts of faculty, staff and students from across campus. The next 10 years of sustainability at the university will be guided by those in our community who get and remain involved. We invite you to be part of this important work. Join us at one of our fall events to learn about ways you can help make the U a better place for all who live, work and play here.

 

VEG OUT

September 19, 2017

Originally posted in @theU on Sept. 18, 2017.

By the Sustainability Office

While students are cramming for exams, working and completing homework, it can sometimes be challenging to find and afford fresh food. This semester, the Edible Campus Gardens and Feed U Pantry have partnered to place healthy, fresh produce in the hands of busy students at the Friday afternoon Produce Pickups.

U students with a valid uNID will find Edible Campus Gardens staff members and fresh harvested vegetables outside of the Feed U Pantry, on the lower level of the Student Union on Friday afternoons from 1-2 p.m., through Oct. 6.

Produce available for pickup may include huge heirloom tomatoes, basil, chard, beans, zucchini, rhubarb, cucumbers, herbs and more, all grown on campus and gathered by student volunteers and the Garden Stewards.

“Our goal is to offer fresh items for students at the food pantry. Everyone deserves local and healthy produce, students especially. I hope that the event only continues to grow,” said Jessica Kemper, Garden Program coordinator.

Supplying fresh vegetables to the university community is part of the mission of the Edible Campus Gardens. Produce harvested from the gardens is sold at the University of Utah Farmers Market and to different food vendors on campus. The gardens have historically donated unsold farmers market produce to the Feed U Pantry on Fridays in the fall. However, it has sometimes been difficult to distribute the produce before it spoiled.

When Kemper arrived on campus in summer 2017, she began working with the Feed U Pantry to transplant an idea from her alma mater UW-Madison that would get the produce in the hands of more students. This idea has become the Friday afternoon Produce Pickups.

In the first two weeks of the Produce Pickups, more than 20 students took 50 pounds of delicious vegetables home with them. Edible Campus Gardens staff members were also able to engage students in meaningful conversation about where the garden produce comes from, how to cook with it, and food resources available on campus, including the Feed U Pantry.  

“We are delighted to have fresh foods available through the Produce Pickups, and to help students become more aware of the resources the Feed U Pantry and Edible Campus Gardens have to offer,” said Nick Knight, executive director of the Feed U Pantry.

Current U students can check out the Produce Pickups for themselves and take home fresh, free vegetables. Don’t forget to bring your uNID (and a reusable bag) and head down to the basement of the Student Union this Friday from 1-2 p.m.

GROW FRESH FOOD ALL YEAR LONG.

February 28, 2017

By: Quinn Graves, Edible Campus Garden Steward.

Producing food in these final days of winter is hard enough due to chilly temperatures and low light. Put classes, schoolwork, job, skiing, and everything else we do and gardening goes to the bottom of the to do list.

Most posts about indoor gardening call for grow lights and controlled climates, but for many of us, we have neither the time nor money to set up a blissful indoor garden.

Do not fret! I’ve compiled three (almost) fool-proof foods that anyone with the desire to can grow food, inside, without grow lights or much effort.

Regrow green onions.

Green onions, among some other produce you may find in your kitchen, can be reused. If you use the top parts of the green onions, you can place the root ends in water and watch them grow. To do this, put the root ends of green onions into a shallow bowl. Make sure the ends are long enough not to be submerged (see picture). Every two to three days, change out the water and watch your green onions re-grow within a week.

When I regrow green onions, I only reuse them once. All plants need more than just water to grow and to provide nutrients, and if you regrow green onions multiple times, they will lose flavor and nutritional value.

Sprouting in a jar.

Growing sprouts is a great way to save money and to grow yourself a vitamin-packed jar of goodness. Check out this great tutorial on how to sprout seeds in a jar. Sprouting is super rewarding because a jar with a half inch of seeds will turn into a bounty of sprouts great for sandwiches, salads, or snacks.

Growing micro greens.

Microgreens are basically itty-bitty lettuces that pack a punch in the nutrient department. Growing microgreens is my favorite on this list. I love it, because I get to plant seeds in dirt and see the little greens emerge. Just like growing lettuce, but even easier! All you need is a little bit of soil, some seeds, a shallow dish, like a berry clamshell container, and a south-facing window to grow your greens in. This tutorial will give you guidance on growing your own microgreens.

There you have it! Three super simple, low-tech ways you can produce food in the warmth of your home.

Quinn is an undergraduate student and ECG steward studying Environmental & Sustainability Studies and Geography with an emphasis in biogeography and ecology. She loves to ski, venture around the world, and is a real-life garden gnome.

Cover Photo: “Beans day five- Kaos” by Lenore Edman is licensed under CC BY 2.0