Growing an edible campus

An Edible Campus can be broadly defined as the production of food on a post-secondary institution’s campus. This research contributes to the creation of a Canadian Edible Campus Database (ECD) that can be used as a network for future collaborations within the campus sustainability community, thus creating opportunities for education, research and community engagement. The database contains information about practices, size, and origin of Edible Campuses across Canada. The database also creates a participant pool for a survey aimed at understanding the diversity of Edible Campuses. Edible Campus team members were asked to respond to questions regarding the goals, barriers and benefits for their food production initiatives. It is the finding of this research that Edible Campuses often exceed beyond ‘greening the school’ by demonstrating sustainability through the physical structure, teaching practice, research, and relationships with people and nature.