Food Systems

Swarthmore is committed to a healthy, equitable food system that enhances the well-being of our community and supports our sustainability goals. Read on to learn about how Swarthmore Dining, student groups, campus projects, and community groups work to create a thriving, sustainable food system.

Food Systems Working Group 

The recently launched Food Systems Working Group (FSWG) works to improve Swarthmore's food system by focusing on food-growing on Swarthmore's campus, as well as food ordered, eaten, and catered with a focus on sustainability, nutrition, environmental justice, and responsible purchasing practices. FSWG will make recommendations to the Ecosphere, reporting to the Executive Committee and President's staff to inform short, medium, and long-term vision and goals for the development of curricular and co-curricular educational opportunities related to sustainable and just food systems work at Swarthmore College.

Sustainable Dining Services

Swarthmore Dining strives to uphold the College's commitment to sustainability by sourcing locally produced foods, reducing waste and conserving resources. You can learn more about sustainability in dining services by visiting their website. Sustainability highlights from Swarthmore Dining include: 

Commitment to compost: The College works with Kitchen Harvest, a local, family-owned business, to compost kitchen and post-consumer waste collected throughout campus. The compost is sorted by Green Advisors on campus, transported and processed by Kitchen Harvest, and eventually used at a family farm located in Middletown, PA. In 2018, Kitchen Harvest collected almost 310,00 pounds of compostable waste. On an annual basis, that works out to about 110 pounds of compostable waste per student, faculty, and staff. For more information about our waste on campus, click here. 

100% compostable or reusable food packaging : Our secondary dining facilities, including Essie Mae's Snack Bar, Kohlberg Coffee Bar, and the Science Center Coffee Bar, offer 100% compostable packaging.  The Dining Center uses reusable plates, cups, and to-go packaging for food. The reusable takeout container program was developed in 2019 by Samantha Barnes '22, and is still underway. For more information about how dining services has reduced the use of non-compostable materials, click here. 

Local food procurement: Swarthmore Dining has a team of dedicated staff that purchases ingredients, prepares and cooks meals, and serves more than 4,500 meals per day. These staff have developed relationships with local farmers and bakers, who provide food such as cage-free egg from Sandy Ridge Farm, bread from Le Bus Bakery, and fresh apples from Beechwood Orchards. In addition to buying directly from local food producers, Swarthmore Dining is proud to work with a number of local, privately owned and operated food distributors. Each of these companies feature locally produced items, provide employment to area residents, and support their communities. For more information, click here.

Use of Campus Produce :  during summer months produce from both the Good Food Garden and Our Food Garden is harvest and distributed to Swarthmore Dining faculties, where it is used in a variety of dishes. Produce is also given to volunteers participating in the Scott Arboretum Garden Share program. During the academic year produce is distributed to student workers in the Good Food Garden, and participants in the Our Food course.

Dining and Community Commons Project: This project includes the construction of a new dining facility, the Dining Center, and renovation of the existing Sharples as a student-focused commons. The Dining Center opened in October 2022, and the renovated Sharples commons will open in 2023. The building has been designed with a goal of net-zero carbon emissions and contains infrastructure to support the College energy plan designed to re-imagine our approach to powering, heating, and cooling campus and realize our commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. Learn more here.

Food Gardens

Our Food Garden 

Our Food Garden has been a vehicle for education about sustainable agriculture and our food system since 2016. Students in the associated Our Food course, which is co-hosted by the Environmental Studies program and the Biology department, use the gardens to grow annual crops of personal interest and to share their newfound knowledge with the community via garden signs and other special projects. 

In 2021 the Our Food Garden was relocated below the Faulkner Tennis Courts, and between the Women's Resource Center, Olde Club, and Kitao Gallery. Crops include a variety of perennials such as chocolate mint, rosemary and sage, as well as modern fall-bearing blackberry and raspberry varieties that students can enjoy during the academic year. Annual crops are planted based on seasonality, and a local company, TrueLove Seeds, sources many of the seeds.

Garden Collective Area 

After the Our Food course moved to its current location below the Faulkner Tennis Courts, a small section was designated within the fence, separate from the Our Food course garden space, as a community area to increase student engagement and serve the campus the community. This space currently includes three tables and six benches which can seat up to twelve students for garden events. The garden includes four small 4x4 plots, and there are plans for additional growing plots. This space is managed with coordination between the Office of Sustainability, the Scott Arboretum, the Women's Resource Center, and receives support from the Environmental Studies Program. 

Good Food Garden

The Good Food Garden, is located on the corner of Elm and Cedar. As of Spring 2023, the Good Food Garden has been placed on a temporary hiatus. The informal fencing that was used in the past was not preventing deer and animals from devastating the crops, making it difficult to grow crops within the space. At this time the Food Systems Working Group (FSWG) is working on behalf of the Good Food Club to acquire more robust fencing, which is needed for the space to be a successful gardening area for students on campus. Applying for fencing is a permitting process that must go through the Swarthmore Borough. FSWG is currently in discussions with the Borough about fencing solutions for the future. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.

Apiaries

The College offers several ways for students to engage with beekeeping, and honeybee hives can be found at several locations on campus. The Scott Arboretum, Environmental Studies Program, and Office of Sustainability work with Alvéole, a company that cares for beehives and provides specialized educational programming on bees. There is currently an Alvéole hive located on the roof of David Kemp. An additional Alvéole hive has been added behind Whittier Hall. Additionally, there are two non-Alvéole hives located between the Benjamin West House and McCabe Library, next to the bio stream. These hives are cared for by Professor Lara Cohen and a number of students. Together, the Scott Arboretum, Environmental Studies Program, Office of Sustainability, and other campus staff have provided educational events for students to learn about beekeeping.

Academics 

Interested in taking a class about food? Some recent and future course offerings include ENVS 099 (Our Food), ENVS 008 (Plants and People), ANTH 039C (Food and Culture), ENVS 007 (Food, Land, Healing), ENGR 010 (Fundamentals of Food Engineering), and HIST 081B (Creating ourselves : Black Women's history through food and literature). For more information, check out the course catalog.

Student Groups

While many student groups host events with food, EAT and the Good Food Project focus specifically on aspects of growing, cooking, and eating healthy and delicious food. You can learn more about EAT, the Good Food Project, and other sustainability-related groups at our 'Join a Student Group' page.

Swarthmore Farmers Market

The Swarthmore Farmers Market takes place in downtown Swarthmore at Central Park (121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081) every Saturday from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM between May 11 and December 7. For more information about the Farmers Market, click here.