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Fresh peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, basil, and cucumbers are now all within walking distance of Boston College. Real Food BC's organic garden is located down Commonwealth Avenue on the Brighton Campus, and features organic produce gardened by BC students and members of the local community.
Started by members of Real Food BC, the garden was made possible by a Conscious Lifestyle Grant submitted last year by Merril Putnam, a former member of Ecopledge and A&S '08, and funds from the Graduate Student Association.
Real Food is a nationwide organization of college students promoting sustainable food systems on college campuses.
Real Food BC is responsible for collaborating with Dining Services to bring Addie's Loft to the old location of Tamarind on the second floor of Corcoran Commons. Addie's features fresh, locally grown food as an alternative to some of the more processed options that have traveled farther before they find their way to your plate.
The garden and cafe were inspired by the food system at Yale University that features its own organic garden that supplies food for a cafe on campus.
At Addie's, the ice cream and cheese are made locally at a dairy outside of Boston, and the tomatoes are from Pennsylvania. The chicken is also from Pennsylvania, and is kept hormone free.
"[Addie's] is not 100 percent local yet," said Michael Cermak, GA&S '13 and a founding member of Real Food BC. "First, we need to show that this is an important issue and that we have the support of students."
None of the food grown in the organic garden is currently served in Addie's. Real Food BC plans to wait another season and work out liability issues before the garden will provide Addie's with some of its produce. Currently, at least 20 people from Real Food BC work at Addie's, making it more of an educational eating experience where diners can ask knowledgeable Addie's staff questions aboutwhere their food came from and how it is grown.
"Dining Services said that if students show support, then they would buy more locally grown food [to be served] outside of Addie's," Cermak said.
Real Food BC and Dining Services planned the menu together over the summer, establishing goals for how much of the food would be locally sourced from the New England area, taking into account price and whether it is a more economically viable option. The menu will change depending on what is in season.
At Santa Clara University in California, 80 percent of food served in dining halls comes from local farms. Smith College in Massachusetts purchases organic produce from 18 local farms, according to Environmental Magazine's Web site.
The difference between locally grown, organic produce is freshness and taste superior to food shipped from across the country. "A tomato in the supermarket was picked when it was green," said Danielle Cortesa, treasurer and lead gardener for Real Food BC, and A&S '09. "It was bred so that it would be hard when shipped here. It was gassed with plant hormone to make it ripen and waxed to make it look shiny. It may look red and shiny [when you buy it], but the taste is different because it was picked when it was still hard and green."
An organization that operated largely under the radar last year, Real Food BC now boasts a listserv of 400 students. Real Food BC has plans to organize a compost program on campus, buying compost carriers that some students could keep in their kitchens and at the end of each week bring to a central location for the garden.
There is also a compact compost in the garden as part of a pilot program where Real Food BC uses the food waste to make dirt compost, as well as rain barrels to capture rainwater to use to water the plants.
"We also plan to have more educational programs, like bringing in speakers," said Jimmy Kaiser, president of Real Food BC and A&S '09. "The Grand Opening of Addie's is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 1, an event where Helen Wechsler, [Director of Dining Services] and members of Real Food BC would speak, and we would also give out awards."
"The garden's purpose is educational," Cortesa said. "It is producing a lot of food, but we also want classes to come to the garden and learn about the food process."
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