"We are taking over green spaces all over campus," said Bryan Flower, the director of the Edible Campus project, a multifaceted program that aims to not only nourish students' bodies with fresh, campus-grown food, but also their minds, by educating them on food production and sustainability. Before he entered institutional food service, Flower traveled the globe as a chef, working for Hilton International. "It's important for me to know where my food comes from," Flower said.
"As a state university, Northern Illinois University (NIU) is mandated by the state as to whom they can purchase their products from. Unfortunately, that doesn't allow us much scope to purchase from our local farmers and support our local farmers," Bloom said.
The solution was to find a way to produce fresh food on the campus itself. In 2023, a grant from the Small Business Administration via the office of Sen. Dick Durbin provided the seed money for the first steps of the Edible Campus project. Since then, Edible Campus has surged forward with multiple projects producing food for students and the DeKalb community.
The Edible Campus has added a hoop house and a composting site. The program is collaborating with ComEd and the Electrical Power and Research Institute on the HydroPod, a 325-foot vertical farming system. The HydroPod is being used to produce seedlings, as well as hydroponically-grown leafy greens and herbs. As the unit produces crops, it is also being used as part of a research project, measuring the electricity and impact of vertical farming systems.
With the program up and running successfully, Flower has his eye on growth, with a larger, long-term goal in mind, one that began when he set out to provide more locally grown food to NIU students and the community.
For more information, read the article on Agrinews