Sustainable Foods and More at Earth Day 2019

Locavores get ready. This year’s theme for the campus Earth Day celebration is sustainable foods. It all happens Wednesday April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Medical School lobbies and the Faculty Conference Room.

Among the participants this year will be representatives from Central Mass Grown, Community Harvest Project, Worcester Regional Food HUB, Worcester County Beekeepers Association, and NexDine, the new company managing the UMass Chan food services at the Albert Sherman Center, Biotech Two and South Street locations.

“We are already working with several local farms in Central Massachusetts and we will be doing more,” said Alan Rowe, resident district manager at NexDine. “We opened at UMass Chan on March 4 and we are working hard to source local foods. Sustainability is a big part of our mission, and I look forward to meeting people at the Earth Day event, hearing their ideas and telling them about our program.”

In addition to the food focus, the Earth Day celebration will once again have a mix of regional companies and organizations that provide sustainable products and services.  Attendees can take a test ride on an electric-assist bicycle, and recycle household electronics in the Pine Tree Parking lot. For a full list of this year’s participating groups see: https://www.umassmed.edu/growinggreen/earthday/

Back this year by popular demand is the Earth Day Trivia Quiz. Participants can pick up the quiz card at the UMass Chan Growing Green table, then find the answers by visiting five other displays at the event. The first 250 people who collect the “answer” stickers from those five displays will win an herb planting kit to grow their own basil at home.

“The sustainability of our food is fundamental for everyone, so it made sense for us to help shine a light on many of the great local food organizations people can access in Central Massachusetts,” said Suzanne Wood, sustainability and energy manager at UMass Chan.

Northeast Material Handling, the school’s vendor for reuse and recycling of electronics and large bulk items, will operate the home electronics collection in the Pine Tree lot. Almost any household item that plugs into a wall outlet will be accepted for free. There will be a $30 charge for television sets of any kind. Computer monitors, both flat screen and CRT will cost $15 each. Vacuum cleaners will cost $10. Click here for a complete list of acceptable items and related charges.