“I am a U alum and staff member. As a student, I focused my studies on the food system—how people eat, food and community, etc., and outdoor education. I really studied to do exactly what I do now.

I am delighted to oversee the Edible Campus Gardens program now. In addition to the program’s import work, the Gardens are special to me because my involvement with the program changed the track I was on as a student.  Once I took a class in the gardens, I started focusing my studies on food, communities, and education.

I grew up food insecure and it was empowering to learn how to grow food. Although growing food is challenging, learning to work with nature and use ecological principles made it easier than I initially expected. Over the course of a semester, we were able to harvest and eat plants we’d started from seed. It was so exciting.

The gardens program works to foster environmental stewardship, community resilience, and belonging on campus through garden-based education and urban food production. Our educational work takes many forms- class visits and large projects, volunteer sessions, supporting research, and leading workshops and events.  The produce supports campus food security efforts. All the food we grow is distributed back to the campus community at no charge, primarily in partnership with the FeedU pantry system. My job is to make sure everything we do runs smoothly.

There is so much that I love about this job. I take the work we do with students very seriously in part because my campus garden experience was such an important part of my time at the U. I love supporting our campus with fresh and nutritious food, engaging educational opportunities, and connecting back to how our food grows. I believe the gardens add a lot to the campus community. The gardens allow students to make deeper connections in their studies through hands-on experience, provide fresh produce at no cost, and create spaces of beauty and places for connection on our campus. I hope that time in the gardens inspires people to grow- whether it be plants, their knowledge, or connection to community.”

— Gabrielle James, Garden Programs Coordinator, U Sustainability Office