Garden solutions: green thumbs, good grub

“In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it,” Frank McKinney Hubbard said.

These are ominous words from Hubbard, an Indiana resident from the early 20th century. In our century, the very idea of self-sustained gardening is lost to college students and the vast majority of Americans. We want food fast, cheap and on the spot.

Do we suffer from this mentality? Certainly, prices are cheap. Low-income families rely on inexpensive food to survive. But we are a generation that has no idea what good, homegrown and pesticide-free food tastes like.

I don’t just mean produce. Sure, I’ll get an organic apple from time to time — but chicken, beef or cheese? Even the organic brands at the supermarket are questionable. So many people don’t really know what being “certified organic” even entails.

Several weeks ago, students at Fairfield University, a small Jesuit school in Connecticut, planted the first of various vegetables in their new, 18-bed garden. The school is not the first to try this, but it’s certainly not a national phenomenon.

A majority of the produce will go to the school’s dining hall, while some will go to food banks. Professors will also use the garden for classes.

What would happen if IU were to try something similar?

The scale might be insurmountable: There are just too many of us and not enough money. But the IU Office of Sustainability is working on similar projects. Some of the long-term goals listed on its website include a “farm-to-college” initiative to produce food for our dining halls, as well as a farmers market on campus that would accept meal points.

Now, I’m hopeful one day these goals can be met. But our school still struggles to get meal points in our Union.

Even if it takes a while for those programs to come to fruition, there are little things you can do now.

If you live off campus and have some space, disregard Hubbard’s words and see if you have a green thumb. The National Gardening Association has a great website with tips, and even good ol’ Kroger, Lowes and Walmart carry seeds, plants and tools.

Some of what you buy might not even need transplanting. Keep a small herb garden in your kitchen and include some of the tangy leaves in your meals. See how your own labor produces something of use.

At the grocery store, read labels. Do some research and find out where your protein, dairy, veggie or fruit is from. Go to a farmers market, pick up some apples and ask the farmer about his work.

If you’re lucky, he or she might throw in a recipe to try.