{"id":391,"date":"2019-05-22T12:59:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T17:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/admissions\/?p=391"},"modified":"2019-10-25T14:23:18","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T19:23:18","slug":"organic-vegetables-rooftop-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/admissions\/organic-vegetables-rooftop-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise the roof! It\u2019s growing food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"raise<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who knows me knows that I struggle with eating vegetables (and eating healthy in general). Don\u2019t even get me started on organic produce. Until fairly recently, I didn\u2019t understand what made it better, and I didn\u2019t really want to understand… But since society is demanding more locally sourced, organic options, I thought I’d learn more about organic vegetables. Apparently, it\u2019s good for your body to *not* eat things genetically modified and coated in pesticides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, it\u2019s a pretty health-focused community here at UML.\nNot counting all the healthy activities\navailable to students<\/a>, the people I work with directly do healthy eating\nchallenges, and University Crossing has a stair climbing challenge. This sounds\nterrible if you know anything about the stairs in UC. But it\u2019s good cardio, so\nthere\u2019s that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because of peer pressure (the good kind, I guess), I compiled\ndata for a month and made a pie chart so I could analyze the types of food I\neat daily. I figured that knowledge would be the first step to bettering myself\nand improving my diet. What I found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"food
** Does eating a strawberry dipped in sugar count as fruit\/vegetables? Asking for a friend.
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This all changed two weeks ago when I met with the Director of Sustainability, Ruairi O\u2019Mahony, so I could catch up\nto the sustainability conversation that many college campuses across the\ncountry are having. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He brought me up to speed on ways that\nUML has embraced sustainability and going green that I never would have\nrealized or noticed. You may not notice if you visit campus, either. Our green\ninitiatives are hidden in plain sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the connection between our sustainability efforts and healthy eating? It turns out that having rooftop gardens helps the university march closer towards its carbon neutral goal while also growing organic vegetables and fruits that people can enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"harvesting
It was coincidental (and lucky) that I happened to be at UC during the first harvest of this rooftop garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Look at these organic vegetables. Gorgeous!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n