Vanderbilt the Possible
Imagining a Sustainable Campus
How To Get Involved
Where We Are Going
We dream of campus farm located on the Commons where all Vanderbilt first-year students live and socialize. Here, students would enjoy gardening together and provide fresh vegetables, herbs and eggs to the Commons and other campus dining halls. On the farm we could maximize the re-use of much existing “waste” on campus. For example, all cardboard used during move-in, coffee grounds from dining, and fallen leaves (given that our campus is a national arboretum) could be re-used as mulch. The farm would also be a teaching device and serve as a lab for environmental studies. By compensating students for their work, Vanderbilt would be demonstrating the true economic value of food production. Lastly, Vanderbilt would be able to employ community members to manage and work on the farm year-round, providing a major benefit to most Vanderbilt positions that are seasonal.
The Yale Farm was launched in 2000 by many students and three key leaders: John Worgo, a professor of environmental health and policy, Alice Waters, a Yale mother and world famous owner of Chez Panisse restaurant, and Yale President Richard Levin.
Yale student uses the farm bike to deliver salad to Mangia, a popular pizzeria in New Haven.
Success Stories
The Yale Farm
In 2000 Yale University opened its one square acre farm that employs five full-time staff, over 20 students, and provides volunteers, classes, and New Haven community members a place to garden, learn about sustainable food systems and sell produce at local farmers markets and restaurants. Click on the slideshow to read more!
Pizza-Making: On Fridays, at the end of the workday, the Yale Farm hosts a pizza party for volunteers with homemade dough and the farm vegetables as toppings
Farm
We have a vision for Vanderbilt to have an on-campus farm that teaches and enables students to grow their own healthy and environmentally responsible food. Globally, it currently takes an average of ten calories of fossil fuels to produce one calorie of food--an extremely inefficient process. We hope for Vanderbilt students--future leaders in business, education, engineering, entertainment, government and other sectors--to understand the importance of sustainable food systems.
Where
Back courtyard of Commons between Sutherland and Stambaugh
Where We Are
In the Spring of 2011, the Vanderbilt Garden Initiative opened the campus' first garden, a 105 by 30 foot community vegetable garden located at the back of campus off Natchez Trace. The garden was funded by student activity fees primarily, and received assistance from the Vanderbilt Green Fund.
Vanderbilt Dining also has a regular purchasing relationship with many local farms, including Devlin Farms (organic produce), West Wind Farms (organic poultry, pork, beef, eggs & more), Gourmet Pasture Beef (grass fed beef), Hatcher Family Dairy (milk) and many others.
Trevecca
In 2009, Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee opened its new Social Justice center and invited Jason Adkins to lead up the environmental justice program. Click on the slideshow and learn more under each photo.