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Sustainable Dining During Earth Week 2013
Dining Services Celebrates
EARTH WEEK 2013
Earth Week 2013 is coming up next week (4/22 – 4/26) and Dining Services is ready! Dining Services is hosting a few events to highlight our sustainable dining initiatives across campus. More information below:
Monday 4/22: 4 – 5 PM: Local Food Fair, Deet’s Place Side Room
Put a face to the name of the people growing your food! The farmers, cheesemakers, bakers, and distributors of your food all have their own story. Come learn more about it! Dining Services sources “local” products that are grown, raised, processed within 250 miles of Blacksburg, VA or within the state of Virginia.
Check out the Event Page on Facebook.
Monday 4/22: 5:30 PM: Sustainable Fish Chef Series, 354 Wallace 
Hall
Executive Chef Mark Bratton and Chef de Cuisine Jon Creger of West End Market will be hosting a cooking demonstration focused on cooking with sustainable fish. Sign up here.
Special Locally Sourced Products: All Week Long at Owens Food Court
Owens Food Court will be showcasing local products in all shops, not just the Farms & Fields Project, during Earth Week (4/22- 4/26). Keep an eye out for Local Icons indicating which items are being sourced locally.
We’d like to thank Produce Source Partners, for working with local producers and helping to champion Contributing Local Vendors:
- Big Spring Mill: Elliston, VA, Flour
- Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm, Blacksburg, VA, Microgreens & basil
- Grayson Natural Farms: Grayson County, VA, Grass Finished Beef
- Homestead Creamery, Wertz, VA: Milk & Ice Cream
- J C Bean Sprout: Bean Sprouts
- Kirby Farms: Greens, Sweet Potatoes
- Local Food Hub: Charlottesville, VA, Lettuces, Arugula, Spinach
- Mann’s Sausage Company, Blacksburg, VA: Sausages
- Mountain View Farm: Fairfield, VA: Cheeses
- Murray’s Cider Company: Apple Cider
- Pearce Family Farm: Cascades, VA, Eggs
- Rock Hill Honey Bee Farm: Stafford, VA Honey
- Sweet Water Baking Company, Floyd, VA: Bread
- Twin Oaks Tofu: Louisa, VA, Tofu
- VT Meats , Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA: Pork, Beef, Lamb
- VT Milk: Blacksburg, VA, Milk
Get on the Bus to Kentland Farm: The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm will be having their next Workday on Saturday 4/27 from 10 AM – 1 PM in partnership with VT ENGAGE. Transportation is provided, please contact Wyatt to reserve your seat!
Get on the Bus to Kentland Farm!
More info on VT Earth Week Events at www.vtearthweek.com
@VTGreenDining
#vtearthweek
What’s all this about sustainability, anyway?
What does it mean to be the Sustainability Coordinator for Dining Services at Virginia Tech? Check out this Prezi (the link below) and get a better understanding of different projects that the Sustainability Coordinator for Dining Services works on.
And don’t forget to come to the Sustainable Dining Roundtable on Monday 11/5 at 6 PM in Lavery Hall Room 330. We’ll talk about current initiatives and how you can get involved!
See ya there!
Menu Feedback
At Farms and Fields, we are always evolving. Take a second to let us know which paninis at the Farms and Fields Project in Owens Food Court you liked this best this week (10/15- 10/19/12)!
- Panini from the Farms & Fields Project
It’s Easy Being Green
It’s easy being green – if you have the right temperatures of course.
Seasonality goes hand in hand with growing local. The most productive time of year for most farms is during the middle of the summer, when the days are long and warm. Unfortunately, in Blacksburg, most of our customers are gone for the summer, during the height of the season. So, the folks at the Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm have had to be creative.
When planning for the season, we gear the production so that the bulk of the harvest will occur between August and October, when school is in session.
This week we’ve been harvesting lettuce which does well in cooler temperatures. Luckily this year we’ve had temperatures perfect for growing lettuce!
Here are a couple heads of lettuce – straight from the garden. Keep an eye out for local lettuce being served on campus!
Spider Webs and Agricultural Acts
I started my morning in the Dining Services Garden today before the sun was even ready to stretch his rays to warm the chilly air. The morning chill seems to have moved in early this year, making my worn wool sweater a necessity. The spider webs are prolific, like tinsel and glittering ornaments on the tomato branches as I picked plumb fruit. The geese are flying south just as everyone is flocking back to Blacksburg for the start of another semester. I continue to move through the garden rows, filling crate after crate with veggies, my smile growing as I know that more of my VT community will be eating from this well loved garden.
Poet, writer, and agrarian, Wendell Berry writes: “I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act. Eating ends the annual dream of the food economy that begins with planting and birth”. An agricultural act—how often does one think of eating in these terms? All humans are involved in agriculture, whether directly or indirectly. The web of choices that we are faced with everyday when we sit down at the table impacts how our land and communities are shaped.
I am inviting each of you to be part of this agricultural act in a deeper way. Come plant, harvest, with us. Come connect with a piece of your food system, and your community. Find out how to volunteer in the garden and help us feed our VT community our Facebook page: The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm Volunteer Program.
To read the rest of Wendell Berry’s Essay The Pleasures of Eating
More Potatoes! Planting at the Garden
We need your help to get all of our potatoes in! So if you like mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, scalloped potatoes or potato salad come help us and our no-till transplanter get all these spuds in the ground.
We will not be able to provide van transportation out to the garden but if you have a car come on down! We need folk mostly between 1-3 to help us run the transplanter. But if you can come earlier in the day that is helpful too! If we make it through the potatoes that we will also plant broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
Please RSVP to this event via the Facebook event or email Chelsea Graves our Garden Education Coordinator at cbgraves@vt.edu. This event is some what weather dependent so please check the facebook page to confirm that we are still planting before heading down or call Chelsea at 571-271-8004.
Below are directions to the garden, carpooling is encouraged, please coordinate with your fellow volunteers.
Getting here can be a bit tricky so this our Garden Education Coordinator’s Chelsea cell number in case you get lost 571-271-8004. If you are unable to attend at the last minute please call Chelsea. Give yourself about 20 minutes to get there from campus.
-Take Prices Fork Road going away from campus.
- Continue for about 3 miles, make a right on McCoy Road.
-Continue for about 3 miles, make a left on Whitehorne Road at the sign for Kentland Farm.
-Take the first entrance to the farm on the right (just before the official entrance at the office building).
-Follow the dirt/gravel road to the garden plots. Park near other cars at the shade trees.
-The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm will be near the entrance on the right near all of the first buildings you see.
Thanks so much for the help in advance!
Friday Mornings in the Garden
Hey Folks!
Meet in the lobby of New Hall West Friday morning (April 27) to catch a ride down to the Garden. We will leave at 9:30 and be back by 12:30. Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit grubby and bring a water bottle.
This Friday we will be planting onions and potatoes, mulching and weeding in the Education Garden and harvesting asparagus. So come on down!
PLEASE RSVP for this event via our Facebook event or email our Garden Education Coordinator Chelsea Graves at cbgraves@vt.edu. If you RSVP and then are unable to attend please let Chelsea know so she won’t wait on you. Space is limited if you need a ride in the van. If you want to drive yourself that’s wonderful but please let Chelsea know so she can plan enough work to keep everyone busy!
Below are directions to the garden, carpooling is encouraged, please coordinate with your fellow volunteers. Give yourself about 20 minutes to get to the garden from campus.
-Take Prices Fork Road going away from campus.
– Continue for about 3 miles, make a right on McCoy Road.
-Continue for about 3 miles, make a left on Whitehorne Road at the sign for Kentland Farm.
-Take the first entrance to the farm on the right (just before the official entrance at the office building).
-Follow the dirt/gravel road to the garden plots. Park near other cars at the shade trees.
-The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm will be near the entrance on the right near all of the first buildings you see.
Getting here can be a bit tricky so this our Garden Education Coordinator’s Chelsea cell number in case you get lost 571-271-8004.
Friday Mornings in the Garden
Hey Folks!
Meet in the lobby of New Hall West tomorrow morning (Friday April 13) to catch a ride down to the Garden. We will leave at 9:30 and be back by 12:30. Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting a bit grubby and a water bottle.
This Friday we will be weeding garlic, laying landscape fabric, cutting back herbs, and planting onions in the Education Garden. So come on down!
PLEASE RSVP for this event via our Facebook event or email our Garden Education Coordinator Chelsea Graves at cbgraves@vt.edu. If you RSVP and then are unable to attend please let Chelsea know so she won’t wait on you. Space is limited if you need a ride in the van. If you want to drive yourself that’s wonderful but please let Chelsea know so she can plan enough work to keep everyone busy!
Below are directions to the garden, carpooling is encouraged, please coordinate with your fellow volunteers. Give yourself about 20 minutes to get to the garden from campus.
-Take Prices Fork Road going away from campus.
– Continue for about 3 miles, make a right on McCoy Road.
-Continue for about 3 miles, make a left on Whitehorne Road at the sign for Kentland Farm.
-Take the first entrance to the farm on the right (just before the official entrance at the office building).
-Follow the dirt/gravel road to the garden plots. Park near other cars at the shade trees.
-The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm will be near the entrance on the right near all of the first buildings you see.
Getting here can be a bit tricky so this our Garden Education Coordinator’s Chelsea cell number in case you get lost 571-271-8004.
Come Help Plant Onions at the Dining Services Garden!
Come to the garden on Saturday April 14th to plant onions with us.We will be planting from 9:30-1:30. Come for as much or a little of shift as you are able. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting grubby, sunscreen and bring a water bottle. Also, pack a bag lunch if you want to hang out after planting and share a meal.
PLEASE RSVP for this event via our Facebook event or email our Garden Education Coordinator Chelsea Graves at cbgraves.edu
Below are directions to the garden, carpooling is encouraged, please coordinate with your fellow volunteers. Give yourself about 20 minutes to get to the garden from campus.
-Take Prices Fork Road going away from campus.
- Continue for about 3 miles, make a right on McCoy Road.
-Continue for about 3 miles, make a left on Whitehorne Road at the sign for Kentland Farm.
-Take the first entrance to the farm on the right (just before the official entrance at the office building).
-Follow the dirt/gravel road to the garden plots. Park near other cars at the shade trees.
-The Dining Services Garden at Kentland Farm will be near the entrance on the right near all of the first buildings you see.
Getting here can be a bit tricky so this our Garden Education Coordinator’s Chelsea cell number in case you get lost 571-271-8004.
Potato planting this coming Monday
The weather hasn’t been on our side yet. As we transition away from April showers, we’ll try and harness May’s weather for a volunteer potato planting! The potato planting of last Saturday has been rescheduled for this coming Monday, May 2nd. It will take place from 8:30am-12:30pm. Visit the Facebook event to confirm your attendance! Find directions to Kentland Farm here.
