Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) Culinary Instructor Bren Nimmo received the 2022 Green Award recognizing her commitment to teaching sustainability and the importance of agriculture in culinary education. The national award is sponsored by the United Soybean Board and the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education.

Sustainable gardening moved from an instructor’s pet project to a required subject in the OSUIT culinary program. Chef instructor Bren Nimmo helped transition the backroom project to an indoor and outdoor Garden Studio filled with lettuces, herbs, edible flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Visitors see zip-grow farm walls, including 16 vertical columns that grow hydroponic lettuces and herbs inside the garden lab. Students plant and nurture a variety of herbs, lettuces, and microgreens for use in the school’s dining rooms. The space also features aquaponics, which is a combination of aquaculture (or growing fish) and hydroponics (or growing plants without soil). There is one section that grows tilapia and the nutrient-rich water from the fish tank feeds microgreen start seedlings.

Weather permitting, seedlings are also grown in outdoor raised beds. Often, one class will plant the next semester’s harvest. The garden produces a wide variety of food: asparagus, beets, berries, melons, okra, carrots, radishes, squash, herbs, lemongrass, and more.

Ongoing improvements are funded for an outdoor wood-fired kitchen, a composting program, and a space for a farmer’s market. This hands-on teaching lab allows instructors and students to learn and grow by planting, tending, tasting, cooking, and sharing the bounty.