Yale’s West Campus is growing something new this year, and Yale University is thus proudly adding its second campus farm. The new West Campus Urban Farm is up and running, enjoying its first growing season this summer.
Like the Main Campus Yale Farm, which is run by the Yale Sustainable Food Project, the West Campus Urban Farm aims to become a layered learning environment that accomplishes many goals on a single site. Serving primarily as a place for the West Campus community to relax, as well as grow and harvest fresh, healthy food, it also sends a few signature items into the West Campus dining facilities for the community to enjoy. The site is also designed to accommodate controlled and exploratory research in its garden beds. With the Nursing School moving to West Campus this fall and the other Institutes already established there, the Farm hopes to stand as a site for investigation on issues as broad as healthy eating, renewable energy, and nutrient cycling, to name a few.
The potential to welcome local school groups onto the West Campus Urban Farm is also being explored. If you would like to be added to the West Campus Urban Farm Newsletter, which alerts you to what’s in season at the Farm and when volunteer hours will be held, click here.