Sustainability

Organic Learning Garden

 

Welcome to the SMC Organic Learning Garden

Organic Learning Garden at SMCSince 2011 this eco-facility has been an opportunity for the entire SMC community to participate in practical learning, growing our own food, exercising sustainability, and to achieving a better understanding of food systems and the impact they have on our planet, bodies, and culture.

The garden is part of SMC’s effort to make all our facilities teaching tools that express our educational values and commitment to environmental excellence.

The Garden consists of about 1,200 square feet of planting space, including several planting options — raised beds, containers, mounded beds, and constructed herb gardens. There are currently 14 plots in the garden, which are distributed by the Organic Learning Garden Oversight Committee. Participants can apply for plots in the Fall or Spring semester. Generally, plots are assigned for the following terms: Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer.

According to the Organic Learning Garden Two Year Plan, “We, the students of Santa Monica College, want to learn to grow our own food so that we can make our communities self-sustaining, have access to fresh and healthy food, reconnect to the earth, our food, our traditions, and experience the happiness that comes from being connected to the beauty and wholeness of nature and each other as we work together in our gardens.”

In today’s food system, items can travel anywhere from 1500 up to 5000 miles before landing on our plate for dinner, these “food miles” contribute to climate change and make learning to grow our own food an essential tool in building a more sustainable future. Food miles is a term which refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental impact of food, including the impact on climate change.

The Organic Learning Garden/Santa Monica College
Urban Beekeeping 101 with Dael Wilcox
Students Feeding Students