“The additional growing capacity allowed Mean Green Acres to increase from the equivalent of approximately one acre of conventional farmland to roughly two and a half acres of conventional growing capacity,” Dining Services says.

UBC students are getting a taste of the future of local food production. On Oct. 6, UBC Food Services will harvest leafy greens from a compact indoor growing pod at the UBC Orchard Commons dining hall and serve them through campus dining.

Babylon Micro-Farms is a company founded at the University of Virginia that specializes in creating and distributing hydroponic systems for growing plants indoors. The farms, as displayed at Florida Tech, used controlled lighting, water and nutrients to grow plants without soil.

The district received a $10,000 grant from Marshfield Clinic and Security Health Plan to install two hydroponic “flex farms.”

The system will grow leafy greens year-round, supplying up to 75% of the high school salad bar’s lettuce, reducing costs, conserving water, and providing hands-on learning opportunities for students.

Through the opening of Peace Produce at William Peace University, Pacer Dining is now serving lettuce grown right on campus.

Peace Produce, the campus’s new hydroponic farm, launched on Sept. 5 with a celebration that included samples of the farm’s fresh lettuce.

“The salads were served with two unique salad dressings prepared by Chef James Pelli,” Pacer Dining Marketing Coordinator Alex Strickler said.