School of the Earth

Gallatin Reimaged 2061

GROW, COOK, EAT!

  1. Gallatin Student

In the year 2061, Gallatin students understand the importance of food. From production to plate, how we approach food becomes a tangible manifestation of how humans relate to their environment. The Food Space is a place that celebrates the connections that food can create. The Food Space is designed as a place to eat, cook, hang out, learn, and grow food. 

As urbanization increases, there is a need to facilitate good food access for people living in cities. As an answer to this impending reality, the Food Space at Gallatin School of the Earth will become an exemplar urban food system. Because most of the surrounding land is covered in concrete structures, NYU would have difficulty becoming a leader in traditional agricultural research like other universities. In the context of our environment, the Food Space is a way for NYU and Gallatin to think critically about how an urban community can and should be fed. 

We cannot underestimate the impact that our food choices have on the environment. Industrial farming systems account for a significant portion of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. Livestock production alone contributes between 15 and 24% of annual global greenhouse emissions (Ilan Stavi & Lal, 2013). For this reason, the question of how to feed a population as large as the NYU student body is an opportunity for the university to take action. 

For the past 35 years, all of NYU’s New York campus dining halls have been catered by Aramark, a multibillion-dollar food service and facilities corporation. This contract makes it impossible for NYU students to make any real decisions about their food or impact with their diet. Instead, NYU needs to take responsibility for how it prioritizes student and environmental health by increasing our connection to food. Growing and cooking the food on site in the Food Space accomplishes this goal, while also providing students with educational opportunities and delicious food.

 

  1. Main Food Counter/Production Kitchen
    • As soon as students enter the Food Space, they are faced with a food counter reminiscent of a Sweetgreen or Chipotle. Behind the counter are display screens showing the menu, which changes daily depending on season, availability, and chef preference. The counter will serve salads, bowls, and sandwiches in an effort to stay health-focused and versatile. Behind the counter will be the largest kitchen in the space, the Production Kitchen, where prep for the Main Counter and Prepared Food (see #8) happens. In the face of climate change and increasing resource scarcity, future consumption of animal products needs to drastically decrease. A college dining hall is an influential place to begin cultivating these dietary habits. Therefore, the menu at the Food Space is plant-focused, with animal products playing a supporting role.
  2. Test Kitchen
    • The Test Kitchen is a classroom lab space. Students will learn food chemistry, nutrition, plant medicine, etc. The space can also be used for agricultural research where certain crops grown in the indoor greenhouses can be tested for flavor and usability. This is a place for students to explore the process of food production from seed to plate.
  1. Education Kitchen
    • The difference between the Test Kitchen and the Education Kitchen is that the latter is for students who want to learn how to cook. Because the human diet has such a big impact on resource use and greenhouse gas emissions, it’s important for students at Gallatin School of the Earth to take responsibility for their diet and its environmental impacts. Learning how to cook is one of the easiest ways to combat the lack of knowledge surrounding food choices. It also increases one’s connection their food and is a valuable life skill. In addition, the Education Kitchen can be a resource for clubs and other university life activities.
  2. Microbiology Lab
    • The Microbiology Lab is a classroom space to develop a microbiology program at Gallatin School of the Earth. This is a highly interdisciplinary field that will fit right in at Gallatin, allowing students to study bio-medicine, ecosystem science, agriculture, and food. The Microbiology Lab will work with the Greenhouses (#B), Compost Center (#C), and Fermentation Lab (#9) to teach and produce research regarding microbiology.
  1. Communal Refrigerator
    • With the four different growing stations in the Food Space, the Communal Refrigerator will be a place to store harvested crops, as well as a point of food access for students. Students will use their NYU ID in order to open the refrigerator. In addition, the Food Space will partner with local farmers and producers in order to offer students a diversity of ingredients.
  2. Cooking Cubes
    • In conjunction with the Communal Refrigerator, the Cooking Cubes provide a cheap and convenient way for Gallatin students to prepare and eat their own food. Each cube is a mini-kitchenette where students can make themselves a quick meal utilizing ingredients from the Communal Refrigerator. They roast veggies, make a smoothie, scramble some eggs, etc.
    • Half of the Cooking Cubes are available for students to reserve in advance, and the other half are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. There is also a large dishwashing station for students to clean up after themselves.
  3. Prepared Food
    • The third food option available in the Food Space is a wall-section of prepared meals, similar to the ones at Whole Foods. This is the fastest way for students to get food. Salads, soups, proteins, and veggies made fresh every day are available for students to take ‘to-go.’
    • In order to minimize waste and plastic usage, there are no disposable containers available in the Food Space. Instead, every person in the NYU community will be given a set of reusable tupperware. If a student forgets their reusable container, there are some available for purchase. In addition, there will be ceramic plates and metal cutlery available for students who want to sit and enjoy their meal ‘for-here’ in the Food Space.
  4. Fermentation Lab
    • Fermentation as a method of preserving has been a part of food history long before the science and nutritional benefits of fermented food were fully understood. The Fermentation Lab is a place to study, experiment, and research food fermentation. In conjunction with the Microbiotics Lab, the Fermentation Lab will blend bio-science with nutrition and culinary arts. Furthermore, students will create consumable food products that can be utilized as ingredients in all of the kitchens, the Cooking Cubes, and sold at the Cafe (#10).
  1. Cafe
    • Although The Food Space is within the School of the Earth building, it is not an area exclusive to Gallatin students only. In order to engage with the greater NYU community and general public, the Food Space at Gallatin School of the Earth will have a Cafe. Corporate contracts that tie NYU to companies responsible for environmental destruction will not be a part of the School of the Earth. As such, brand name products such as Coca-Cola will not be sold. This is an opportunity for students to research alternative beverages or create their own—(kombuchas, lemonades, teas… the possibilities are extensive!). Food created in the Fermentation Lab like sauerkraut, sourdough breads, yogurt or even pickles and jams will be an original snack alternative to the bags of chips and candy currently available to students. The goal is for the Cafe to be a place where students can share their culinary knowledge and ideas as delicious food.
  1. Customizable Seating/Speaker Space
    • Space is not an unlimited resource. Especially as urban populations grow, humans need to start rethinking the way we design our habitable spaces in order to maximize their use. Dedicating entire rooms to a singular purpose that can only be used once a week is wasteful, and the School of the Earth will do better. In order to make rooms adaptable, the seating area in the Food Space is completely customizable. Tables and chairs can rise in and out of the floor in any formation. In preparation for a speaker event, the set-up might include a raised stage and auditorium-style seating. On a day-to-day basis, a number of round tables with stools will be set up for students to hang out and eat.
  1. Interactive Book Shelf
    • Each table in the Food Space will have a retractable, cylindrical bookcase in the center. The books will have an environmental theme to encourage environmental consciousness among the NYU community.
  2. Living Wall

The Food Space will have a indoor Living Wall, a vertical hydroponic garden. Living Walls improve indoor air quality, energy efficiency, and human health and wellbeing. They can also increase local biodiversity and contribute to urban agriculture. The Living Wall in the Food Space will primarily be dedicated to growing culinary herbs that can be harvested for ingredients. Descriptions around the Living Wall will educate students about what types of plants are growing and their uses.

 

14. Greenhouses 1 and 2

  1. There will be two indoor greenhouses in the Food Space. These will be the primary sources of produce for the Communal Fridge, Kitchens, Cafe, and Educational programs. The greenhouses provide hands-on opportunities for students who want to grow plants, as well as a place to experiment with ecology and general agricultural systems. These greenhouses will be multilayered systems; because horizontal space is limited, plants will be grown vertically to increase production and diversity while simultaneously minimizing unused space. The layout of the greenhouses will be designed so as to create “edible forest gardens” in which plants will be grown together in patterns that create mutually beneficial relationships, allowing the greenhouse garden to become more than the sum of its parts (Toensmier, 2016).

15. Compost Center/Mushroom Farm

  1. Gallatin School of the Earth will have a highly developed waste system that ensures complete nutrient cycling on campus. Waste will be organized into categories so that everything can be properly sorted and processed. Most food waste will be composted, which in turn will provided added nutrients for the soil in the greenhouses.
  2. Students will also begin experimenting to create their own mushroom compost, so that mushroom cultivation can be added to diversity of crops growing at the School of the Earth.

 

 

Cited Sources:

 

Stavi, I., & Lal, R. (2013). Agriculture and greenhouse gases, a common tragedy. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 33(2), 275–289. http://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-012-0110-0

 

Toensmier, E. (2016). The Carbon Farming Soltion (1st ed.). White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.