My Idea for the $25,000 Grant to help Union Campus is to build a garden that is big enough to sustain all of the vegetables used for the union dining hall. I think that the perfect place to plant this garden is on the soccer field adjacent to the field house. There can be a portion of a sustainability class devoted to keeping the garden up and running. This garden will reduce the amount of vegetables we need in turn reducing the carbon emission of the transportation needed to bring the vegetables we use daily. I also think we should cut out the food corporation that provides us food and source the meat we need to cook locally from livestock in the capital region. This process would be very complicated but with the $25,000 I think It can be properly planned. There can be courses designed around management of the supply and demand of meat products and union can reduce the transportation needed to bring the meat to the school.
I think this a really sustainable and clever proposal for a green grant, but I agree with your statement that it would be a complicated process. I have a few questions, (1) Who would take care of the garden, considering that it would have to be large enough to feed the entire campus? (2) Where would you place this garden? On campus?
I like your idea about utilizing the field next to the field house on campus. Although it is used by sports teams every now and again the field is not well kept and could be used for a much better purpose. I also really like your idea about having potential courses that are geared towards maintaining the garden. This idea could also save Union a ton of money if we could somehow begin to grow and support our own food right on campus rather than having to spend money to bring it in.
This is a great idea ryan!! My only fear is that Union’s location would make the garden difficult to sustain over the winter. The ground freezing over would definitely prove to be problematic.
We already have Octopus’s Garden on campus which barely produces enough food to incorporate in Ozone Cafe because the rest of it is donated to the city mission of Schenectady. I think this idea could use further revision. Maybe it could work to expand Octopus’s Garden?
This is an interesting idea however it sounds like it would be a major project for the school to take on. Is there a way it could be implemented into the other garden areas that the school already has making it more plausible and less costly? just an idea on how to revise it so that it is more plausible.