UW-River Falls student garden initiated by SALSA club
October 25, 2012
UW-River Falls is getting a new student garden courtesy of student organization Student Alliance for Local and Sustainable Agriculture (SALSA). The vegetable garden will be entirely student-run and is scheduled to begin production in spring of 2013.
SALSA plans to stay doubly true to its name for the first growing season by primarily producing vegetables for making and canning homemade salsa.
The club then plans on selling this value-added product as a fundraiser for the club. This will provide students with hands-on learning opportunities both in gardening skills and in marketing and business skills in a value-added localized food system.
The garden will be located behind campus in the outdoor teaching plot area. SALSA was granted the space for the garden by the UWRF Greenhouse Committee. The space already has fencing and water access and is within walking or biking distance for all students, making it an ideal location for the garden.
This student garden is one example of the great deal of momentum behind today’s local food movement. Among the crowd are students on college campuses nationwide that are voicing the importance of relocalizing our nation’s food system, coupled with environmentally sound growing practices, in terms of social, economic and environmental sustainability. Many institutions of higher education are choosing to lead by example on these key agricultural issues.
To learn more about SALSA and the student garden, please contact Loretta Ortiz-Ribbing, faculty advisor at loretta.ortiz-ribbing@uwrf.edu or Jabez Meulemans, vice president of SALSA at jabez.meulemans@my.uwrf.edu.