UWEC Campus Garden: Enhancing Sustainability Through Food
Production and Practices
Sustainability Outcomes
Foodlums has been able to increase awareness of sustainable food options by keeping a garden
in the courtyard of Phillips Science Hall and using sustainable gardening practices. We have also
worked and cooperated with many local farmers in the Chippewa Valley area including local
butchers, the farmers market, and Kitchen Kleen potatoes. In this way, we have demonstrated
environmental sustainability integrated with economic sustainability and healthy students’
bodies. The proposed plan would help increase the scope of our production and increase
visibility in our campus community. The garden provides opportunities for all students to learn
about sustainable land practices and methods for incorporating these into their lives.
Edible landscapes – fruit trees, herbs, ornamental vegetables – can support campus
sustainability, create valuable learning opportunities, and provide healthy food. Our garden is
already a successful example of this landscape process. However, for the past 3 years,
Foodlums has relied on summer volunteers. A garden manager to work on the garden 30
hrs/week throughout the summer creates much needed stability and consistency in the garden,
and provides an opportunity for Foodlums to work even more cooperatively with Grounds
Maintenance on garden planning and development. Grounds maintenance will use the garden
manager’s remaining 10 hrs/week on their Compost Tea Brewer EEC project and other tasks.
Foodlums has supported the Compost Tea Brewer project since Grounds first started exploring it
for UWEC. Further, Foodlums will use compost tea that they will produce and have talked with
Veolia about using the composted materials from the cafeteria waste on campus as well which
takes the composting efforts of the university full circle in sustainable gardening. As discussed
with Facilities Management, the garden manager will be accountable to Grounds Maintenance
as a regular grounds employee with a special task (the garden) and special funds (from EEC).
Promoting honey bees into our campus ecosystem helps preserve an endangered species and
promotes other foliage on our campus through pollination. More pollinators are necessary for
the continued successful production of plants and adding more pollinators to our campus will
help increase the production of sustainable food from campus. UWEC Grounds Maintenance
recommends the UWEC properties on Roosevelt near the Little Niagara as a suitable place for
the bee hives. Foodlums’ advisors already raise bees and will help organize this project.
Scale/Scope
Currently, the scale would take place within the courtyard of Phillips Science Hall, but the raised
bed techniques as well as the planting of fruit trees could serve as a pilot project that could
further lead to expansion throughout campus or the Eau Claire community. Further expansion
would be assessed and evaluated in cooperation with Facilities Management.
Timeline
Planning with Grounds Maintenance begins fall 2010, with the raised beds, bee hives, fruit trees
and shed in place by summer 2011, along with garden planting; the paid student garden
manager position is between Spring graduation and the beginning of the semester in the fall.
Learning Outcomes
The garden itself provides many opportunities for learning about organic gardening and the
benefits of organic gardening and sustainable lifestyles while building relationships between
different peer groups and faculty groups throughout the Eau Claire campus and community. In
the past, the garden has hosted groups of individuals seeking rehabilitation after being
incarcerated, the Hmong student association, elementary students, and master gardeners from
Eau Claire and the surrounding areas. We, the Foodlums, have also learned a lot from
connection and communication from Eau Claire faculty members from a variety of departments.
The Foodlums organization itself is made up from many different students representing
different majors and ages throughout the university. The visual and organizational enhancement
of the garden facilities will only encourage more involvement and participation. The garden also
promotes individual and social responsibility by providing a platform for students to
demonstrate a commitment and responsibility for a common goal.
Visibility/Awareness and Learning Opportunities
Foodlums already has a prominent place in the local food scene. Articles in the local media,
service-learning recognition, community presentations throughout the region are all a
testament to the Foodlums’ presence on campus and in the Chippewa Valley. A more
presentable garden space leads will promote involvement and create an inviting space to
showcase edible landscapes and student initiative. Inviting the campus community into the
garden for a spring ground breaking ceremony (to take place the 1st week of May) and a harvest
celebration (to take place the 2nd week of September) would promote more awareness of the
garden. This garden space could also be utilized by faculty or students as a casual space
between classes. Foodlums will organize demonstrations of food preservation and already
connect community members to the campus garden, for example, through UW-Extension.
Outreach
We, the Foodlums, will continue outreach efforts as in the past (listed under learning
objectives). In addition, we have connections throughout the Eau Claire community and hope to
give back by using a portion of the food we produce for contributions to organizations such as
Campus Kitchens and Community Table. The raised beds gardening technique also allows for a
wider accessibility to students and community members with a variety of physical capabilities.
Data Collection
The amount of garden yields could be measured by pounds and recorded on the W drive for
accessibility to any party interested. The garden manager would also be in charge of keeping
regular updates about garden progress and productivity, also to be stored on the W drive.