Student garden at heart of sustainable food movement on campus

The "Aha!" moment came during an annual event two years ago, says Rebecca Gorin, assistant manager of Whitney dining hall.

With Connecticut farms losing the battle to developers at a record pace, shouldn't UConn, the state's land grant University, do something to help?

The answer, from all corners, was a resounding "yes."

Now, as a new semester begins, students dining at Whitney are eating produce fresh from the garden. In doing so, they are supporting the EcoGarden Club, a student organization that's tending a one-acre plot off Route 195, and a series of local and state farmers.

Gorin suggests that people think of the University's foray into sustainable gardening like the ripples that spread out when a pebble is tossed into a pond. Each ripple, she says, reflecting another farm.

"The center of the ripple is the students' garden off Storrs Road. The nearest ripple to the center is a farm from Ashford where we buy maple syrup and honey.

Other ripples are other farmers across Connecticut where we purchase food," she says.

"We buy as much as we can as close as we can, and then we move outward."

UConn dining services officials have long sought to buy products from Connecticut vendors. Now, at Whitney, Gorin is taking that effort a step further, purchasing produce not only in-state but from as close to campus as possible.

"Sustainable means different things to different people," says Gorin.

"For us, it's a system that can support and sustain itself. The student garden is a good example. They're growing a wide variety of vegetables we're using in Whitney. Eventually, Whitney - and the other dorms - will feed compost back to the garden.