Tower Gardens are vertical growing systems that use a form of hydroponic growing to produce food in small spaces. This Tower Garden represents a partnership between FH King Students for Sustainable Agriculture, University Housing, and the Green Fund.

 

We hope this Tower Garden not only highlights the power of local food but also the power of cultivating plants in small spaces to be directly consumed as opposed to being converted into animal feed. The Tower Garden represents a small but vital aspect of the growing movement to address climate change by shifting our consumption and production practices.

 

In the United States, conventionally produced foods are often said to travel 1,500 miles from farm to plate. This transportation, paired with the high-input production associated with industrial agriculture, accounts for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Of these food-related emissions, 24% comes from inefficient land use.

 

Because these towers are meant to prioritize education over mass food production, all produce grown is used for student programming, Harvest Handouts, or F.H. King employees. This project began during summer 2020 when F.H. King’s two Urban Agriculture Directors, Christopher Hastings and Molly DeVore, reached out to Green Fund Program Manager Ian Aley. After submitting their Green Fund Application the following fall, the project was approved and the towers were purchased. We officially set up our first garden at Gordon Dining Hall on April 2nd, 2021. Shortly after, on April 19th, we set up our second tower at Four Lakes Dining Hall. Feel free to stop by either of these locations or contact F.H. King to get involved!

 

Want to help make campus more sustainable? Visit sustainability.wisc.edu/greenfund to learn more!

 

To learn more about Tower Gardens, check out towergarden.com