Sustainable Food

The choices we make multiple times a day at mealtime create wonderful ways to prioritize personal and environmental health. Sustainability in food production and dining are a priority at Allegheny College, showing up in curriculum, extracurricular activities, waste management, and purchasing.

Campus Gardens

The Carr Hall Organic Garden, also known as “The Carrden” is a hands-on learning space that was founded in 2013 as part of an Environmental Science and Sustainability Department Junior Seminar. The Carrden grows over 2,000 pounds of organic produce each year. Carrden harvests are featured at Brooks Dining Hall and McKinley’s as herbal tea, hot sauce, salsa, elderberry syrup and more. Botanicals grown in the garden are used to create balms and lotion bars. The IDEAS Cultural Garden, Hillel Garden, and Allegheny Campus Student Garden are other opportunities for students to explore the nexus of food and culture through gardening and cooking with a community.

Parkhurst Dining and Catering

Our dining service partner, Parkhurst, emphasizes local and organic purchases through their FarmSource program and features low-impact diet options such as plant-based options at every meal.

Minimizing Food Waste

Allegheny College minimizes waste by composting kitchen scraps in the on-campus compost facility and incentivizing reusable dishware through the Green Box program. The Green Box Program is FREE* and EASY! Use the Fill it Forward app to checkout and return green boxes plus earn points and rewards. Another way the campus community works together to reduce food waste is through the student-led Food Recovery Network. Student volunteers partner with Parkhurst to gather and donate leftover food from the dining halls to local community partners.

Agriculture & Food in Curriculum

The Environmental Science and Sustainability Department offers several curricular explorations of sustainable agriculture and local food theory such as Soil to Plate and Small Scale Agriculture. Students also pursue independent studies and senior comprehensive projects focused on food security and sustainability.

Outcomes:

  • Avoided more than 15,000 disposable containers each year since 2024 through the green box program
  • Composted 115 tons of kitchen waste each year
  • Donated more than 700 recovered meals to the local community in spring 2026 through the Food Recovery Network

Your Sustainable Habits Create Our Sustainable Campus: