NIU Today

Student volunteer Sarah Lighthiser and Bryan Flower, assistant director of food systems innovation, help prepare the Anderson Market Garden for the growing season.

NIU students and faculty have installed nearly 100 garden beds on campus this spring as part of an expansive new Edible Campus initiative.

The ambitious partnership among different NIU units and outside partners aims to transform parts of the NIU campus into a landscape you can eat.

Edible plants such as kale, beans, squash and herbs will fill the garden beds, located in three areas of central campus. In addition, the project is currently developing:

• a one-acre Market Garden near Anderson Hall;
• indoor aeroponic and hydroponic grow systems;
• and plans for “food forests” made up of berry bushes, fruit- and nut-bearing trees.

‘The best kind of community engagement’

With support from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, NIU’s Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development (OERD) is receiving federal funding over three years to establish the Edible Campus and related workforce development training.

NIU Sustainability Coordinator Courtney Gallaher and Kris Borre, associate director of sustainable food systems for ESE, are among those who have started groundwork on the Anderson Market Garden.

“Edible Campus represents the best kind of community engagement, and we’re grateful to Senator Durbin for his support in gaining initial funding for the program,” says Vice President and Chief Engagement Officer Rena Cotsones.

“The program brings together partners from multiple units on campus and throughout the region, including the DeKalb County Community Gardens. Together, we’re advancing shared goals: addressing food insecurity, building a local foods culture, improving public health and creating a more sustainable future. The Edible Campus team is doing a wonderful job of co-creating an exciting initiative that will have tremendous positive impacts in our community.”

Committed to sustainability 

Some of the Edible Campus produce will be distributed through the Huskie Food Pantry to provide nutritious food to students facing food insecurity. And Huskies will be encouraged to pick ripe food as they see it from the central-campus garden beds.

Students Alyssa Edwards and Gabriel Cabrera Ruiz prepare garden beds in central campus.

But the university is committed to making the program financially self-sustaining, partly by selling produce from the Anderson Market Garden to Campus Dining Services and by attracting donors who recognize the project value.

“We’re grateful to the many companies and organizations who are donating necessary supplies,” says Chef Bryan Flower, NIU assistant director of food systems innovation.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Ball Horticultural Company is donating all of the seeds. Gordon Hardware in DeKalb has given us gardening equipment. Garden Prairie Organics provided 20 cubic yards of compost and has committed to more. Innovative Growers Equipment is contributing two aeroponic towers, and the nonprofit Feeding Illinois donated 200 raised garden beds. We’re also in the process of developing partnerships with orchards and other local growers.”

A living laboratory

NIU’s Edible Campus reflects growing efforts among universities to study and improve food systems and to prepare students for the field’s many career opportunities. Illinois is ripe for the picking, so to speak. In spite of an abundance of farms, most of the food consumed in the state is not locally produced.

NIU Sustainability Coordinator Courtney Gallaher says the primary Edible Campus goal is to create a teaching tool for students, encouraging them to see food systems as part of a larger conversation about sustainability. The effort also complements existing courses in sustainable food systems that are part of the environmental studies major and certificate programs in the NIU Institute for the Study of Environment, Sustainability and Energy (ESE).

“By serving locally grown food in the residence halls, we hope that students learn about locally grown food,” Gallaher says. “Using the Edible Campus Program as a laboratory space, the students can deepen their knowledge of food systems. Our goal is to train students to ask important questions and prepare them for jobs where they can make a difference.”

ENVS 210 students selected their garden beds and sowed the first set of seeds on April 12.

Students are already involved

Other members of the Edible Campus transdisciplinary leadership team include ESE Director Thomas Skuzinski and Amy Jo Clemens, OERD assistant vice president. Many students also have been involved as researchers and student workers. For example:

• Students in ENVS 210 Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems are using the garden beds in their laboratory assignments, under the guidance of Dr. Kristen Borre.
• College of Business students are writing feasibility reports to help Edible Campus establish long-term revenue sources, including a possible community-supported agriculture program in the coming years.
• Senior design students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts are creating sculptures for the gardens.
• College of Health and Human Sciences students are planning for fall meal-prep sessions for the campus community in their Wirtz Hall food labs, using the Edible Campus produce.
• Student groups are making plans for indigenous crops, building hydroponic towers and exploring different systems for growing food.

In late March, NIU students and faculty installed raised garden beds around the MLK commons, Founders Memorial Library and Stevens Building. More students have planted seeds in the NIU greenhouses and the greenhouses of four local high schools, starting the plants that will fill these gardens.

Research, engagement opportunities

Ph.D. student Alyssa Edwards is a core member of the Edible Campus team who is conducting research on the initiative.

Alyssa Edwards, a Ph.D. student in the NIU Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, is a core member of the Edible Campus team who is conducting research on the project. She is exploring how Edible Campus impacts the way college students understand food systems and sustainability.

“Edible Campus is a great research topic for me because of its adaptability and wide-reaching nature,” she says. “I am interested in a broad range of topics, and it has great educational and engagement opportunities.”

Joe Brynteson and Gabriel Cabrera Ruiz helped to install the initial garden beds and will continue working in the gardens. Brynteson, who graduated in December with his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, will return to NIU this fall to earn his Master of Science in geology.

“Throughout my environmental studies courses, the concept of food insecurity was brought up frequently,” he says. “I’m incredibly excited to be assisting with a possible solution to the problem as well as actively improving NIU.”

Cabrera Ruiz is a senior majoring in environmental studies with an emphasis on sustainability. “The NIU environmental studies major emphasizes community outreach, environment and advocacy. This is why involvement in local projects like the Edible Campus garden is essential to me,” Cabrera Ruiz says.

“These small projects will create the foundation and motivation for other institutions and communities to adopt these practices for the social and environmental benefits they bring. To me, this project is a call to action for sustainability.”

One part of a bigger picture

Edible Campus is related to broader campus efforts addressing sustainability. In August, the university became a signatory to the Second Nature Presidents Climate Leadership Carbon Commitment.

Additionally, an NIU task force later this spring will complete the first campus-wide sustainability and climate action plan. In the fall, the plan will be presented to shared governance, and all faculty, staff and students will have opportunities to provide feedback.

The sustainability plan will encompass a wide range of topics, including transitioning to renewable energy, low-emissions transportation, reducing waste, improved management of campus grounds as either natural habitats or food production spaces, improving sustainability in campus food and dining, and creating greater opportunities for hands-on learning and research.

Meanwhile, the Edible Campus project is full speed ahead. The team has workdays planned for Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29. Email ediblecampus@niu.edu to find out how you can get involved.