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Campus dining and its food is getting a little greener.
Soil Stewards is creating a closer bond with Sodexo by growing herbs for meals served at Bob’s Place in the Wallace Residence Center.
Donna Mills, a UI graduate student and farm development coordinator, said the project started in January because Sodexo, the catering company that serves UI Campus Dining, wanted to create a better relationship with Soil Stewards.
“This has been a learning process for us. We’ve learned what works out well and what hasn’t,” Mills said. “We would like to see this become a year-round project.”
Mills said the group has harvested a lot of herbs already, but needs to be aware of the timing of the different herbs, and correlate crops with the university’s schedule.
“I’ve learned a lot about the way Sodexo thinks,” Mills said. “They have certain groups and activities that they have to prepare for. Not only do they have students to feed, but they also have a calendar for the various events that go on throughout the year.”
Mills said Soil Stewards has grown a variety of herbs including cilantro, mint, basil, rosemary and thyme. She said the herbs are used for whatever dishes they are needed for.
“To continue to improve our sustainability and keep our education programs up-to-date, we look at the different programs other schools have and what makes them successful,” Mills said. “We then see if we can make those projects work at UI.”
The idea was turned into a class project for two students, Tony Ive and Carson Alberg, who are involved in business and agriculture.
Ive said he thought it was a good idea to improve sustainability on campus, and the program creates more opportunities for Bob’s to offer healthier and more organic foods.
“Along with the planting and harvesting, we also created a business plan and are learning how to run a small business,” Ive said. “It helps to understand the economic end of it, and the details that go along with starting a small business.”
Ive said his favorite part of the project is being in the greenhouse.
“It’s great to be around all of the plants — being a part of it,” Ive said. “I’ve enjoyed watching the herbs we planted grow.”
Ive said if more people get involved and understand that they can improve the food quality, sustainability will become more common on campus.
Steven Davis, director of operations for Campus Dining, said collaborating with Soil Stewards was a great idea, because it improves their initiative to get more local products involved in campus dining.
“I think it’s been successful, and I’d love to see us continue to work into a more consistent basis, or more year-round,” Davis said.
Davis said he likes to see sustainability’s positive impact on local producers, and it’s cool to consume food that has been locally grown.
“Any time you can utilize local producers you’re going to reduce the carbon footprint, and I don’t see a downside to it,” Davis said.
Michelle Gregg can be reached at
[email protected]