Garden-to-Table Dinner: Celebrating a Year of Environmental Learning and Service
On April 25, 125 guests from across campus enjoyed a locally sourced dinner at the Baylor Community Garden to celebrate a year of interdisciplinary environmental education and nourishment of local food ecosystems. The meal was prepared by Baylor chefs using ingredients sourced from the Baylor Community Garden (BCG) and local sustainable farms.
Between September 2023 and early June 2024, 808 students, faculty, staff, and members of student groups have contributed to and visited the BCG to volunteer or participate in 30 educational workshops, workdays, and special events. Student projects, special class sessions, and service learning at the BCG have involved academic programs as diverse as English, History, Modern Languages and Cultures, Professional Writing, Philanthropy and Public Service, Biology, Environmental Science, Social Work, Education, and more. Most of these classes have been in the Environmental Humanities Minor. Students, faculty, and staff have diverted 4,869.54 lbs. of campus and community food waste from the landfill to create 3,025 lbs. of compost and nurture over 417 lbs. of healthy produce at the BCG. This produce currently goes to the Store, Baylor’s on-campus food pantry, to address student food insecurity, with the goal of extending the BCG’s distribution to food-insecure communities in Waco.
As captured in images above, President Livingstone and the First Gent Brad Livingstone joined the celebration on April 25. Students shared about the Environmental Humanities Minor, and we honored student leaders of the Campus Kitchen garden team, Morgan Garner and Annecy Marsh, for heading up a year of fantastic growth. We also expressed our profound gratitude to Andrea Valdez, Project Manager for the SCRAP (Sustainable Community and Regenerative Agriculture) Collective, a network of urban composting and gardening programs in which Environmental Humanities is involved: Andrea has been central to the revitalization and community of the garden. Guests wrote words of gratitude and hope for the garden on stones, which were “planted” as seeds along the rim of the central bed, symbolizing all that has grown and might yet take root in the garden and in our community. An exhibit called the “Shalom Garden” displaying creative writing by some students from Dr. Joshua King's (English, Director of Environmental Humanities) class on Literature and Environmental Justice: their words promoting justice and compassion within our earthly community were displayed on illuminated lanterns crafted out of recycled paper and pressed flowers by Dr. Ginger Hanchey (English) and students in her Poetics of Mindfulness class.
Kevin Merritt, then Food Service Director for Baylor Dining Aramark, accepted an award on behalf of all the contributing chefs: Chef Carlos Ortega Catagena (Penland), Chef Jeramy Watson (Brooks), Chef Kaylynn Hartz (East Village), and Chef Rudy Garza (Campus Executive Chef).
We are grateful to our many sponsors, including Student Government, the Office of Spiritual Life, the Funders Network, the Cooper Foundation, and the Departments of English and Environmental Science. Thanks to Student Government, the garden will soon have a new greenhouse, canopy for outdoor meetings, additional tables and benches, and a C02-absorbing mural!