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The tower gardens engage students and staff alike, with din- bottled synthetic fertilizers are currently the most practical way
ing hall staff members having the opportunity to assist in garden to deliver vital nutrients. I would love to see the gardens become
maintenance. Ashlee O’Brien, assistant manager at the Bursley closed-loop systems by using fertilizers produced on campus.”
Dining Hall, immediately volunteered to help oversee the garden O’Brien voiced a similar concern. “What discourages me is
at Bursley. O’Brien has a background in aeroponic gardening, the waste from the garden, because what is grown there is not
tending to similar tower gardens at home. “Growing is something something we can consume in the dining hall.”
I love to do,” she said. “It’s already my hobby at home, so when O’Brien envisions multiple tower gardens in every dining hall
I’m [tending to the Bursley garden], I’m in my comfort zone. — one on display, and the rest in the kitchens, where they aren’t
I’m still working, but I’m simultaneously doing something that accessible to the public. “I would love to do this especially to
I’m passionate about.” grow herbs, because they frequently arrive wilted from suppliers.”
East Quad Sous Chef Nick Ringe, eager to get his hands dirty, Chefs at Bursley Hall have also conveyed interest in using tower
volunteered to take responsibility for the garden in East Quad. Ringe, gardens to provide at least some of their vegetables in the future.
who has personal experience in gardening, has managed every While installing the tower gardens in U-M dining halls is a
step of the process since the arrival of the garden in August 2017, triumph in and of itself, Rosenberg does not want to stop there.
growing the seedlings in-house, planting them, monitoring plant “I’m working with Alex to take data from the tower gardens to
growth and eventually harvesting the vegetables just weeks later. see if they actually are more efficient and sustainable than grow-
The tower gardens serve a purpose beyond adding greenery ing produce in the ground or in a hoop house [greenhouses made
and aesthetic value to the dining space. While the gardens grow by covering a plastic or metal hoop structure with one layer (or
edible food, their main objective is to act as educational pieces, sometimes two) of clear plastic] during the winter,” she said. “I’m
showing students where their produce comes from, even if it specifically analyzing the energy consumption because of the
isn’t directly featured in the sautéed Swiss chard or Caesar salad gardens’ grow lights to determine what impact that has. I’m also
that is portioned out at dining hall stations. While the vegetables going to look at how much energy and water is used compared
harvested from the garden are edible, they are not used in dining to the amount that is harvested to see if it is both productive and
hall dishes, Rosenberg explained, “due to food safety concerns. environmentally sound.”
But the dining hall staff who take care of the gardens are able to Different classes, student groups, or simply interested individu-
take the produce home and cook it themselves.” als can get involved to expand the reach of the gardens on campus,
“The gardens won’t create enough food for dining halls, but and research ways to make them more sustainable — it’s how this
by featuring them, we’re able to engage students in a broader initiative started, after all. The tower gardens are a uniting force in
education of where our food is coming from, and bring light to inviting multiple groups — MDining, LA Urban Farms, the U-M
MDining’s ongoing relationship with the U-M Campus Farm,” said Campus Farm, students and staff — to engage with the relationship
Alex Bryan, director of the University of Michigan Sustainable between food production and its end consumer, and investigate how
Food Program. “The tower gardens allow MDining to experiment to further reinvent that relationship in a way that is both feasible
with a new production method while giving students a space to and sustainably sound. And Bryan agrees. “It’s a critical role for
learn outside the classroom, where they least expect it.” MDining to play in shaping the campus of the future.”
Keith Soster, director of Student Engagement at MDining, Sophia May is a junior at the University of Michigan, major-
is passionate about exploring alternative ways to grow produce. ing in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Sustainable
“At MDining, we’ve looked into freight farms, hydroponics and Food Merchandising and Marketing. She is currently interning
aquaponics,” he said. “We researched the feasibility of a rooftop for MDining, where she helps promote sustainability initiatives
garden on campus, but have yet to find a location that meets involving food and other areas of campus life. —OCH
safety needs.”
With the tower gardens,
MDining is able to showcase
one alternative growing meth-
od, aeroponics [the process of
growing plants in an air or mist
environment without the use of
soil or an aggregate medium
(known as geoponics)], to show
students an innovative method
of food production that chal-
lenges traditional growing
practices that require inputs
of either soil or water.
Even though the gardens
are a step in the right direction
in considering greener ways to
cultivate food, they still can be
improved upon. “The gardens
are sustainable in the sense that
we’re keeping food local, pro-
ducing it in-house and exploring
supplemental growing methods,”
said Ringe. “The downfall is that

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