Partnering with Freight Farms

Think of your favorite fruit. Imagine being able to grow that ALL YEAR round, wherever you want, and harvest a fresh, juicy piece of fruit that only requires 10% of the water that other farming methods require.

Sounds like a tough task, right? How is it possible to make it easy to grow tomatoes in the middle of December on the east coast? Or an basket of strawberries in the Sahara Desert?

A Leafy Green Machine™  might be able to help!

Freight Farms is a company that has made it their mission to empower individuals and organizations with the ability to grow fresh,  sustainable produce all year round - in any condition. With the LGM - or, Leafy Green Machine™ - Freight Farms has created a sustainable way to grow anything, anywhere, anytime! They have sold over 160 LGMs in 10 countries and provided their services to over 20 college campuses world wide.

But, what is a Leafy Green Machine™? In simple terms, it’s a portable farm that can grow items in any climate during any season! The farm-in-a-box is an upcycled shipping container outfitted with all the tools, technology, and growing equipment needed to harvest some goodies. The LGM can harvest up to 150 pounds of produce a week, using features like vertical crop columns and an sensory controlled environment. Even better, the LGM requires no previous farming experience and is designed for easy operation. The use of hydroponics allows these farms to use 90% less water than traditional farming methods, while also cutting down the impacts of food transportation.

Why is this relevant?

Rensselaer Dining Services is looking to partner with Freight Farms to purchase an LGM and begin our own local farm.  Freight Farms is able to provide modern universities with an opportunity to integrate sustainable, high quality food production into campus culture. Each LGM is tailored specifically to fit the needs and wants of each campus. Freight Farms has been able to promote sustainability, health, wellness, and transparency to students all across the country, educating students on the farm-to-table benefits and journey.

We even had an opportunity to take students from Rensselaer’s Student Sustainability Task Force and Hospitality Services Advisor Committee on a tour of a working LGM. They loved it and hoped to see it on campus sooon.

Check out what Freight Farms has to offer!

Go Green in 2018

New Years is a time to reflect on the past year and decide what measures we can take to be happier, healthier, and a better person in general in the coming year. With that, this New Years I challenge you to think about the impact that you have had on the planet Earth this past year and make a difference this coming year. Here are some pledges you can take to decrease your footprint and become a greener citizen:

1. The Better Bag Challenge: Promise not to take any disposable plastic bags for a whole year. Instead, bring your own reusable bag.

2. Take Back the Tap Pledge: Pledge to choose tap water over bottled water whenever possible, fill a reusable bottle with tap water, and support policies that promote clean, affordable tap water for all.

3. The B.Y.O Pledge: Pledge to bring your own mugs, water bottles, and reusable bags to work, school and whenever you are on-the-go.

4. The Lights Off Pledge: Pledge to turn the lights off whenever you leave a room for two months.

5. Colgate Make Every Drop Count Challenge: Pledge to turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth.

6. Zero Waste Pledge: Pledge to recycle or repurpose all waste. (Bonus: you even get a free gift for this one!)

Happy New Year!

2017: a Year in Review

Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Taylor Swift's comeback, The Women's March, Beyonce's Pregnancy announcement, etc.-- all things that made 2017. Here are Rensselaer Dining Services, we have had quite the eventful year as well. From zero waste Commencement Day to compost bins in the Rensselaer Union, 2017 has been full of positive, sustainable changes on the Rensselaer campus. Let's take a chance to look back and reflect on our sustainable year at Rensselaer.

Zero Waste Commencement Day: The class of 2017 was honored with a joyous celebration at the ECAV football stadium. Though the graduation celebration was obviously the highlight of the event, coming in close second was the fact that it was entirely zero waste! This means that all the garbage produced by the event was either recycled or composted-- none of it was destined for a landfill.

Red's Best Sustainable Seafood: Every Friday on campus, a Red's Best fish is served in each of the dining halls. Red's Best provides sustainably caught fish meaning the process minimizes energy expenditure.

Campus Composting at Rensselaer: Student's at the largest retail location on campus, the Rensselaer Union, have the opportunity to utilize a compost bin in order to dispose of leftover foods and napkins. This minimizes the amount of landfill waste that we, as a campus, create.

Reusable Mugs/Bags: All students on a meal plan received a free reusable mug and bag to use throughout the year. This was an effort to reduce coffee cup waste and plastic bag waste on campus.

Clean Water Aid: When trouble struck campus, in the form of a boil advisory, Rensselaer Dining Services was there to save the day with free bottled water for students as well as canned sodas and juices inside the dining hall.

Straight A's on Vegan Report Card: Peta2 came out with vegan report cards for 2017 and Rensselaer scored straight A's. Scoring was based on the availability of vegan services. Rensselaer currently fulfills 7 out of the 10 criterion, earning us an A.

Get Local Meals: Locally sourced ingredients have become an integral piece of our dining halls. Twice a month we host "Get Local" meals in which all the ingredients are locally sourced from New York. On a daily basis, we also feature dairy products sourced from Byrne Dairy in Lafayette, New York.

What an incredible year it has been! The progress that we have made within dining services and as a campus is inspiring. Looking ahead, 2018 is going to be filled with even more of a sustainable push toward an even brighter future.