Campus-to-Table Fresh Produce Makes a Debut at Long Beach State University
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Aug. 29, 2018) – Fresh produce grown on the campus of Long Beach State University awaits students and faculty members who are returning to campus for the fall semester.
Long Beach State’s Forty-Niner Shops introduced 20 hydroponic systems onto campus. The systems sit on a platform between the bookstore and Nugget Grill & Pub and are currently growing leafy greens and herbs among other produce typically featured in the “dirty dozen” list of produce that are most susceptible to pesticide contamination.
“We’re trying to go a step further,” said Donald Penrod, general manager and chief executive of the non-profit Forty-Niner Shops on campus. “We really want to grow as much food as we can locally because you know where it comes from.”
The new vertical gardens are expected to supply enough produce for the on-campus salad bar at the Chartroom restaurant and more hydroponic systems are being considered for other locations on campus, said Long Beach State alumnus Caleb Wood, who graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in human geography. Wood works for Lettuce Grow, a Playa Vista-based startup, which will oversee the produce on campus from seed germination through cultivation.
The new pilot program is expected to run at least a year, until it can be assessed for economic feasibility.
Lettuce Grow has 100 clients in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
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About the campus:Long Beach State University is a teaching-intensive, research-driven university committed to providing highly valued undergraduate and graduate degrees critical for success in the globally minded 21st century. Annually ranked among the best universities in the West and among the best values in the entire nation, the university’s eight colleges serve more than 37,500 students. The campus values and is recognized for rich educational opportunities provided by excellent faculty and staff, exceptional degree programs, diversity of its student body, fiduciary and administrative responsibility and the positive contributions faculty, staff, students and more than 300,000 alumni make on society.About Lettuce Grow: A local startup based in Playa del Ray, Lettuce Grow employs 20 people and is an arm of The Farm Project, a business started by actress Zooey Deschanel and her husband Jacob Pechenik.
Photo(s) attached. Please credit “Long Beach State University” for each photo.
Suggested caption: Lettuce Grow employees Alberto Superchi (L), Caleb Wood (center) and Niels Thorlaksson (R) install a new hydroponic system on a platform near the dining area at Long Beach State University. The initial goal is to harvest enough fresh vegetables from the hydroponic system to provide for one salad bar on campus.
