You can’t get more local than growing food on campus, for campus.
At NC State University – a school with agriculture roots in a state where agriculture is the most profitable industry – campus-grown food just makes sense. Yet until summer 2013, campus-grown food had never been served in campus dining halls. Here’s how the vision of food grown by the Pack, for the Pack became a reality:
University Dining wanted to take their growing local food initiative to the next level but didn’t have the space, time or expertise to grow produce on campus. Enter the university’s Agroecology Education Farm, a six-acre farm near Yates Mill County Park that students use for hands-on learning in sustainable farming techniques.
Dining and the farm formed a partnership, and on April 13 about 100 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members kicked off campus Earth Day events by planting seedlings at the farm. Several rows of crops were designated specifically for University Dining.
With the help of more farm volunteers over the summer months, NC State’s garden grew. On June 25, the first delivery of campus-grown food was made to campus dining halls. Over the course of the summer, the farm’s bounty totaled several hundred pounds of produce for University Dining.
Both Dining and the farm hope the partnership can continue so that high quality, organically-grown food continues to find its way onto dining hall plates. As one student said, “This is a first step to making it a bigger thing.”