image via Victoria MayEarth Day is just right around the corner, and what better way to welcome it than to plant a garden?
Moore College of Art & Design did just that. The college has planted its own herb garden as part of the school and gallery’s mission to be more sustainable.
The fresh produce from the herb garden will be incorporated into the dining hall menus, and are currently being grown in an incubator designed by the school’s food service director and executive chef, and fashioned from a former salad bar cart.
As the weather grows warmer, the garden’s fragrant herbs (including cilantro, dill, basil, lavender, parsley and chives) will be transferred to the outdoor courtyard. Moore looks forward to enlarging the space to plant tomatoes, cucumbers and other fresh produce.
The art school is among the rising number of schools that provide their students with food grown by local farmers through SAGE Dining Service’s program, “From Here, From Near,” which features the names of farms and ingredients on menu cards. Just last year, Moore’s dining service began using reusable dinnerware. Other noteworthy green projects currently operating include, a student-run art supply and book swap, a campus-wide recycling program, and required training for all incoming students and faculty on how to correctly dispose of art and design materials.
The Moore dining hall is open to the public, so go taste for yourself the fruits (and vegetables) of the farmers’ labor. Hours are: Monday through Friday, 7:45-9 a.m., 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m., 5-6:45 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m.-12 p.m., 4:30-5:30 p.m.
