Closing the Campus Food Loop

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.
~James Oppenheim

Since its inception, the Stanford Community Farm has used food scraps from on-campus residences to fill the compost bins, where the organic matter breaks down to provide nutrients for crops grown at the farm. In the past, the delicious crops grown at the farm have been donated to various organizations or eaten by farm classes and plot owners.

In the past year, we have focused on expanding our composting program. Now that our compost includes scraps from several large student residences, it is time to begin the next step: closing the campus food loop. By providing food for student residences which donate compost, the farm will bring in income to help offset its costs, and campus residences will benefit from access to healthy organic foods grown right in their own backyard. Such ready access will bring an awareness of the farm and of sustainable agriculture to many more students, resulting in a positive feedback loop between our community farm and daily student life.