Patriot Produce Sustainable Garden Lizzie, Rose, Jacqueline, Stuart, and Andrew

Sustainable Foods

What’s wrong with our food?  Additives  Antibiotics  Food Irradation  Genetic Engineering  Hormones  Pesticides

How is it effecting the environment?  Air pollution  Green house gases  Climate change  Factory farming  Greenhouse gases  Animal waste  Water pollution/eutrophication  In human treatment  Poor work conditions

How it is effecting the environment? Cont.  Biodiversity  Diversity in soil microbes  Decomposition and nutrient cycling  More species  Better pollination  Food security  Less vulnerable to disease/pests

What does it mean to be “organic”?  Biodiversity  Ecological balance  Sustainability  Natural plant fertilization  Natural pest management  Soil integrity sustainabletable.org/issues

Campus Sustainability at Mason

Mason’s Current Efforts  STARS rating – SILVER STAR  Sustainable Endowments Institute Green Report Card  Overall: B-  Food & Recycling: B  Dining Services Mile Markers  Buys over 10% of its food locally  Offers vegetarian & vegan meal options  Composting efforts (Southside)

Mason’s Current Efforts  Dining Services Mile markers (Cont’d)  50% of beef & poultry purchased is free range  85% of purchased milk is hormone free  GOGA – George Mason’s Organic Garden Assoc.  Potomac Heights Garden  Greenhouse  *NEW* Sprouts

Our PGF Proposal – Patriot Produce

Patriot Produce “This project will involve creating a new organic vegetable garden on Mason’s Fairfax campus. The garden’s main function will be to provide fresh, organic produce to Southside and Mason’s other dining facilities. ”

Sustainable Garden Efforts by other Universities  Yale Sustainable Food Project  Established 2003  “Engages in sustainable practices that can be continued indefinitely without causing degradation to the biological systems on which they rely.”  Crops are sold locally or donated to hunger relief project.

Sustainable Garden Efforts by other Universities  Yale University (cont.)  Sustainable gardening practices:  No fertilizers used- soil only enhanced with natural minerals such as green sand and colloidal rock phosphate.  Direct seed crops  Drip tape irrigation  Growth of healthy, pest resistant plants to reduce pests.

Sustainable Garden Efforts by other Universities  Santa Clara University  Inspired by Penn State Garden  Also established in 2003  Set forth guidelines and features of a Sustainable Garden

Sustainable Garden Efforts by other Universities  Santa Clara University (cont.)  Guidelines and Features for a Sustainable Garden:  Designed, managed, and maintained as an interdependent living system.  Using plants and features appropriate to the natural environment/climate.  Minimize inputs/outputs  Create a stable living system

Sustainable Garden Efforts by other Universities  Santa Clara University (cont.)  Guidelines and Features for a Sustainable Garden:  Incorporates a vast diversity of plants  Includes edible plants, vegetables, and fruit trees.  Replaces lawns

Patriot Produce Sustainable Garden  Project & Purpose  Expansion of GMU’s Organic Garden  Partnership with Mason Dining  Student Awareness & Involvement  Goals & Objectives  Supply Mason Dining with locally grown, organic produce  Get the Mason Community more involved in local agriculture  More awareness of human connection to the biosphere

Patriot Produce  Involved Organizations/Departments  GOGA  GMU Office of Sustainability  Mason Dining/Sodexo  Mason’s Environmental Impact  Lowering our carbon footprint  Expand & protect local biodiversity  Runoff Issues

Future Goals  Official Organic Certification  Cost Issue  Permaculture System  Using native plants or those that are well adapted to your local area  Regular On-Campus Farmer’s Market

Mason Dining Partnership  Follow Sodexo’s approved list of products  No raw sprouts – alfalfa, radish, etc.  Continued supply of salad greens to Sprouts

Works Cited  "Santa Clara University." - St. Clare Garden. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct  "Yale Sustainable Food Project | The Farm." Yale Sustainable Food Project | The Farm. Yale University, n.d. Web. 22 Oct