Student Senate and Ohio University Culinary Services partnered in Spring 2024 with Just Vertical to bring indoor gardens to OU’s dining halls in an initiative to get fresh produce to Cat’s Cupboard, OU’s food pantry.
Just Vertical is a Canada-based company focused on providing a way for people to consume and grow fresh produce without owning any farmland.
Caden Hibbs, former Senate environmental affairs commissioner and senior at OU, began working on the project after each senate commission was awarded a $5,000 grant.
“Our commission kind of had a long process to see not only what we think could be impactful but also what the school would be on board with and where to implement a large-scale project,” Hibbs said.
Around November 2023, Hibbs and Student Senate got an email from Just Vertical about bringing indoor farms to OU. Hibbs said once Senate decided to work with Just Vertical, it was a long process of getting OU’s culinary department on board, but the grant money helped move things along.
With the grant money, OU received two years' worth of seeds from Just Vertical.
Patrick Ladly-Freeden, operations and sales lead at Just Vertical, said getting to work with OU was a pleasure and found that the dining halls were a great fit for the indoor gardens.
“Our goal is that this will add sustainable fresh produce to the cafeteria while allowing students to learn about new farming technology,” Ladly-Freeden said.
The collaboration with Cat’s Cupboard came over summer 2024. Once a week, produce from the indoor gardens is harvested and taken to Cat’s Cupboard pantry located in Baker Center Room 514.
Laney Grubb, Cat’s Cupboard worker and social work intern, said the process has been easy and students are excited about the new offerings.
“The students are always pleasantly surprised when we have any fresh produce, but when they hear that the greens are coming from dorms throughout our campus, they are even more excited,” Grubb said.
Executive Chef of Culinary Services Anne Liston and Executive Director of Culinary Services Frank Pazzanese also played big roles in getting the indoor gardens up and running in the dining halls.
“We’re trying to come up with three things we’re trying to accomplish: educational piece, some extra food for the Cat’s Cupboard and just more oxygen from the environment in our dining halls,” Pazzanese said.
Liston recently met with a student who will be in charge of maintaining the gardens throughout the year. Liston worked on the gardens a lot over the summer trying to grow different kinds of plants and produce, but is now looking forward to seeing students take over the project.
“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” Liston said. "It is great now that there is student involvement with it because it’s one thing when the old lady works on it, but I think it’s cooler when the students work on it.”
Pazzanese sees the project as a test run for bigger things in the future, and Liston said it’s an incredible opportunity to provide for students through Cat’s Cupboard.
The availability of the produce in Cat’s Cupboard varies, but when it is available, it will be waiting in the fridge for students when they come in for their appointments.
Cat’s Cupboard offers pick-up twice a month for students by appointment only. Appointments can be made online.
