In response to the recommendation from the Campus Sustainability Integrated Assessment
of University of Michigan (2009), and the long-time vision of a core group of faculty and staff
representing the Sustainable Food Initiative at the University of Michigan, the School of Natural
Resources and Environment’s Sustainable Food Program 2012-2013 Master’s Project Team
established the University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program (UMSFP) and the University of
Michigan Campus Farm. Since its inception, UMSFP has remained an entirely student-driven
initiative. A leadership team of four graduate students and four undergraduate students is
responsible for program oversight and makes all of the core decisions surrounding its
administration. In January 2013, UMSFP Program Manager, Emily Canosa, was hired to provide
mentorship and support to the student leaders and to aid in the continuity to the program, as
student leadership turns over each year. Emily is the only non-student member involved in the
UMSFP leadership meetings. UMSFP also has an advisory board comprised of the students on the
UMSFP leadership team, faculty, and staff. The program has since blossomed into a community of
10 active member groups, each representing unique interests in sustainable food. One of these
member groups, Friends of the Campus Farm, along with student interns hired by the Matthaei
Botanical Gardens, are responsible for directing and managing the Campus Farm, located at the
Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The Farm began as a pilot program in May 2012, and it grew to its full
production space of two acres, with a quarter acre cultivated, in Summer 2013.
The Campus Farm was founded with this threefold mission (Dengate et. al, 2013):
1. Develop responsible citizens and leaders by facilitating formal and informal
education on sustainable food topics.
2. Strengthen communities through collaborative programming and outreach
3. Grow sustainable food that supports the well-being of people and the
environmental at the University of Michigan and beyond
In line with this mission, programming at the farm has flourished since the planting of the
pilot plot in May 2012:
• Students can buy produce on campus in the fall at MFarmers’ Markets and at
UMSFP’s member group Student Food Co.’s bi-weekly produce table
• University courses incorporate the farm into their curriculum and projects, racking
up more than 600 hours of course contact annually
• Friends of the Campus Farm schedules regular workdays and volunteer
opportunities for upwards of forty loyal volunteers who donate over 1900 hours of
their time to the Farm each year.
• New students get acquainted with the farm during Welcome Week and orientations
• Three hundred community members celebrate each year at the Harvest Festival