MSU student farm celebrates first harvest, feeds campus community through dining partnership
Contact: Vanessa Beeson
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University’s experiential student farm in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has celebrated its first harvest, and the bounty collected has made its way to university dining halls thanks to a partnership with Aramark.
The university’s campus dining partner recently received approximately 50-100 pounds of leafy greens, including bok choy, mustard greens, collards and green onions.
Video by Sarah Kirk
Associate Professor Tongyin Li and Instructor Pawel Orlinski, both in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, together with Instructor Casey Johnson in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design, oversee the farm’s teaching, research, outreach and student-driven operations. Professor Juan Silva in the Department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Health Promotion leads the farm’s food safety processes for harvest.
“The idea of a truly local MSU food system is very exciting. We grow food right here at the student farm and have students involved in every step. Then the campus community can enjoy that produce in our dining halls,” Li said. “This season, we chose leafy greens because they fit the harvest window when campus needs them most.”
The produce is incorporated into menus through Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. James Jankowski, resident district manager at MSU, said the collaboration expands ongoing efforts to source food locally and highlight MSU-grown products already featured in dining halls, such as milk, ice cream and eggs from the university’s Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.
“This partnership with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences showcases the incredible work happening in their student-led farm program while providing our dining halls with the freshest possible produce,” he said.
Jankowski said the long-term vision is a year-round partnership that deepens MSU’s commitment to sustainable food systems.
“Our goal is to support agricultural education while reducing our food miles to provide students with fresh, locally grown ingredients. This initial phase is just the beginning of what we envision as a long-term collaboration,” he said. “We’re discussing future plans to introduce composting from dining hall pre-consumer waste back to the farm, creating a closed-loop system that demonstrates how food systems can work sustainably from soil to table and back again.”
Abby Pennington, horticulture master’s student from Baldwyn, manages daily operations at the farm, gaining practical training in a small-scale production agricultural environment.
“It’s given me real hands-on experience and put me in the position of a producer, seeing what farmers and small growers deal with day to day,” Pennington said. “We want students from all backgrounds to be part of this. Whether you’re interested in business, food, agriculture or just want to get outside and learn something new, we want this to grow into something students can really take part in.”
The farm, located next to A.B. McKay Food Research and Enology Lab, donates portions of its harvest to Bully’s Pantry to help support students facing food insecurity.
The one-acre site produces fruits, vegetables and cut flowers, with floral products marketed through the CALS student-run University Florist. As the program grows, the farm will expand its production and crop diversity, with nutrition faculty and students contributing to programming.
The farm includes three greenhouses donated by Quiedan Company of Salinas, California, and was established with support from the MAFES research support team led by Superintendent of the Department of Research Support Keith Daniels.
To learn more about Mississippi State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, visit www.cals.msstate.edu. Find the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station at www.mafes.msstate.edu.
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