Food Systems Working Group
Launched in 2020, the 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 the 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. One ongoing project supported by FSWG is the Farm Feasibility Study, a PSRF project working towards establishing an educational campus farm on campus property, starting with our current Prototype Farm.
Learn more about the Prototype Farm
The Food Recovery Fridge
The Food Recovery Fridge is an initiative designed to reduce food waste on campus. The project was begun in the 2023-2024 academic year by President’s Sustainability Research Fellow Saumya Raj ’25 and Associate Director of Sustainability Clare Hyre. By introducing a designated refrigerator located in the lobby outside Science Center Room 199, the program aims to enable the safe collection and redistribution of unused, edible food leftover from events. Students, faculty, and staff can drop off food at the fridge after events or sign up for a Food Recovery Liaison to assist them. More information can be found here.
Learn more here.
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.
Learn more- Academics
Interested in taking a class about food? Some recent and future course offerings include ENVS 009 (Our Food), ANTH 039C (Food and Culture), ENGR 010 (Fundamentals of Food Engineering), and ENVS 049 Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the United States.
For more information, check out the course catalog.
The President’s Sustainability Research Fellowship Program also offers opportunities to engage with food systems-related projects that connect to your academic work. Current and past food-related projects include: the Food Recovery Fridge Project, Sustainable Dining Communications, Environmental Justice and Community Resilience: Food Justice, and the Farm Feasibility Study.
- Student Groups
While many student groups host events centered on food, the Good Food Garden Club focuses specifically on growing, cooking, and eating healthy, delicious, and sustainably grown food. The Good Energy Collaborative, as part of the Environmental Justice and Community Resilience program, also works with a local regenerative farm with a social mission in Chester and West Philadelphia, called the Re-entry Community farm. The Re-entry Community Farm provides “a space for returning people interested in learning how to regenerate land and steward land in Philadelphia.”
- Campus Gardens
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, utilize the gardens to cultivate annual crops of personal interest and share their newfound knowledge with the community. In 2021, Our Food Garden was relocated below the Faulkner Tennis Courts, and between the Women's Resource Center, Olde Club, and Kitao Gallery. In 2021, the Garden Collective was developed, adjacent to the Our Food Garden. Crops include a variety of herbs and seasonal vegetables 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. Staff and students working in the Garden Collective offer regular programs to engage the campus with the space.
- Apiaries
Swarthmore College has several gardens and apiaries across campus. The Scott Arboretum, Environmental Studies Program, and Office of Sustainability work with Alvéole and the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild to host workshops and specialized educational programs on bees. There is currently an Alvéole hive located on the roof of David Kemp, and a Beekeepers Guild hive has been added behind Whittier Hall. Additionally, there are two hives located between the Benjamin West House and McCabe Library that are managed by faculty members.
