UGArden marks 15 years of growing food and community with gala

Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear UGArden!

Fifteen years ago, what is now a thriving, 10-acre teaching farm began as little more than a beat-up cattle run, according to UGArden founding member Mary Carlson Streiffert. Today, UGArden is not only a model of sustainable agriculture at the University of Georgia: It's also a cherished community garden built by and for students, where they can learn to grow food organically, connect with the land and serve the broader Athens community.

In 2010, Streiffert, the first president of the UGArden Club, was one of a small group of students passionate about the environment and sustainable agriculture. They formed a group called the Campus Community Garden Initiative and created the proposal for a student teaching farm.

With the support of the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the UGA Grounds Department, the group's dream took root on a vacant, sunny plot of land just 2 miles down the road from the main campus next to existing horticulture greenhouses. A year later, through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Grant, UGArden began offering formal courses.

The mission of UGArden is simple yet meaningful: to build a community of students grounded in sustainable food systems. That mission heralded programs like UGArden Herbs - a student-led business selling medicinal teas and spice blends - as well as partnerships with organizations such as Campus Kitchen at UGA, Concrete Jungle and Fresh Express to address food insecurity in the Athens area.

The teaching farm also serves as an interdisciplinary research site that provides a wide range of opportunities for teaching faculty and research scientists.

Since 2010, UGArden has donated more than 150,000 pounds of produce to food-insecure individuals and families in the community. The farm has served more than 4,000 students, hosted more than 15,000 tour participants, welcomed 7,000 local schoolchildren, and engaged more than 8,000 volunteers who have contributed over 42,000 hours of service.

Honoring the student community farm's legacy, a merry collection of past and current UGArden staff, students, interns, volunteers and faculty attended last month's UGArden Gala to celebrate.