By Kyra Palumbo and Allyson Neu
Greenhouse Grown is an organization on campus that promotes exactly what it sounds like — produce grown in a greenhouse.
They are looking for staff and students across three college campuses, Elms, Springfield and Western New England University, to increase awareness of the convenience and advantages of the locally grown produce existing around them. This can be found in our very own city of Springfield, MA. Some of this produce is often delivered to WNE’s dining halls for students and staff to consume during meal time!
You might wonder, why would I bother eating locally grown fruits and vegetables? By consuming locally grown produce, there are countless benefits for both you and the environment around you. Locally grown produce does not include GMOs (genetically modified organisms), referring to produce that is grown when the genetic material has been altered by using genetic engineering techniques.
By purchasing local produce, you are also supporting smaller businesses instead of mass-producing corporate farms across the country that supply the rest of America. This means that produce is fresher when it reaches your table, as it was not picked a week ago, sprayed with chemicals, then travelled days on a truck being shipped to you. This also cuts down on costs by avoiding the travel time as well as added costs and taxes.
This cause helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which contributes to improving our carbon footprint and thus improving the quality of the environment for generations to come. Local produce essentially reduces outsourcing while simultaneously benefiting your local economy by creating jobs in underdeveloped neighborhoods.
Greenhouse Grown is starting to educate the community about these benefits. They are getting ready to release a contest to challenge Western New England University, Elms College, and Springfield College to shop and eat produce solely grown locally. Their goal is for students and teachers to be excited and experience the gains of their newest fruit and vegetable choices.
On each of these respective campuses, you might often notice a sticker with the “Greenhouse Grown” logo on top of salad containers. This sticker means that the lettuce inside was grown at Wellspring Harvest, a greenhouse located just down the street from our campus in Springfield.
Wellspring Harvest grows lettuce which is distributed to multiple local Big-Y locations, and often on these three college campuses. Whether you are shopping at a grocery store, or choosing a salad with our logo on top, shopping locally is possible.
To participate in the upcoming contest, show it to Greenhouse Grown on their social media @ghgrown! Prior to the launch of the competition, if you would like an early entry into the contest, simply take the survey or follow their social media pages, found by scanning the QR code! Everyone who takes this survey will automatically be entered into the raffle to win one of the five amazing prizes including a yoga mat, Nalgene water bottle with the school’s logo, a university logo quarter-zip, Magic Bullet personal blender, and a Big-Y gift card.
The Greenhouse Grown team wants students, faculty, and staff to experience the benefits associated with consuming locally produced vegetables. This mission is brought to you by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, who aims for, “A healthy food system that feeds all of us.” Thanks to this foundation, staff and students in Springfield will be enjoying locally grown produce in no time.
