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Situated on the western edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Va. \u2013 often overshadowed by nearby James Madison University with 10 times the student population \u2013 EMU is gradually gaining a small measure of fame for its devotion to what it calls \u201ccreation care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaring for God\u2019s creation\u201d started in 1976-77 at EMU when a science professor opted to spend his sabbatical year studying the ways the college could cut fuel consumption. He succeeded. Among other steps, EMU launched into energy-efficient construction, with new buildings heated and cooled by a unique closed-loop system in the 1980s. In the fall of 2010 EMU became the host of what was then the largest solar-panel deployment in Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2011, students and grounds workers created an \u201cedible landscape\u201d<\/a> by sprinkling 1,000 food-producing plants around the 100-acre campus.<\/p>\n \u201cThis started because students saw \u2018Food Inc.\u2019 [a 2008 documentary, critiquing agribusiness] and began knocking on my door saying, \u2018Hey, we want to grow food on campus,\u2019\u201d said Will Hairston<\/a>, grounds supervisor at EMU.<\/p>\n The students found receptive ears \u2013 Hairston has a degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech. Yet, in his 20 years at EMU, Hairston had mainly focused on planting ornamentals, believing their beauty to be \u201cfood for the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n Suddenly Hairston found himself running to keep \u201cjust a half step ahead of the students,\u201d who were pointing out the beauty of lettuce and acorn squash and persimmon trees.<\/p>\n Students, joined by a handful of faculty members, began raising vegetables in three large garden areas on campus. They now sell their produce, when in season, on Saturday mornings near the University Commons. They also give the campus community the option of harvesting their own produce, asking only that harvesters contribute back by weeding or otherwise helping out.<\/p>\n Apple and pear saplings now dot the western hill that backs EMU. \u201cPruning the trees has been my baby,\u201d said senior Alyshia Zimmerman.<\/p>\n Seminary professor Kenton Derstine<\/a> donated four bee hives and is mentoring\u00a0 Tessa Gerberich, an undergraduate student, in bee care.<\/p>\n Zimmerman, who is plotting EMU\u2019s edible plants on a master map, pointed to other locations of fruit-bearing trees on campus \u00ad\u2013 fig, plum, persimmon, paw paw, and hazelnut trees can be found near sports fields. Alert campus strollers will spot grape vines and bushes bearing cornelian cherries and raspberries. \u201cWe want to raise awareness to the availability and health benefits that these plants can provide,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Students walking to the quad of \u201cgreen dorms\u201d \u2013 built to LEED \u201cgold\u201d standards<\/a>, with dual-flush, low-flow toilets, recycled bricks, solar panels that preheat water, and so forth\u00a0 \u2013 pass asparagus plants that look yummy but shouldn’t be harvested until year two or later.<\/p>\n In June 2012, a new 100,000-gallon cistern<\/a> began collecting the runoff from the buildings, roads and parking lots covering 15 acres at EMU. It is now used for watering the grass on four sports fields and other vegetation, including the edible landscaping.<\/p>\n Chickens lay eggs in enclosures behind the science building, not far from a compost heap where the leftovers from the main dining hall eventually turn into soil to nourish the campus vegetable and herb gardens. Much of the produce in these gardens returns to the serving lines of the dining room. The campus chef steps outside her industrial kitchen to pluck basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage.<\/p>\n \u201cActually being \u2018green\u2019 and living in environmentally sustainable ways feels to many of us like returning to the frugality and healthy farming practices of our forebears,\u201d says EMU President Loren Swartzendruber<\/a>, who was raised in the Mennonite-thick farm community of Kalona, Iowa.<\/p>\n In September 2012, Swartzendruber began a three-year term on the board of directors of the Evangelical Environmental Network<\/a>, whose mission is \u201cto equip, inspire, disciple and mobilize God\u2019s people in their effort to care for God\u2019s creation.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a group that does not question the view of the majority of the world\u2019s scientists that climate change is occurring and that, left unchecked, will have serious consequences for all forms of life as we know it.<\/p>\n \u201cBy tradition and current practice, EMU aims to make decisions that are right in the long term,\u201d says Swartzendruber. \u201cWe can\u2019t always see the immediate pay-offs, but we feel we are stewards of the environment in which we all live. The benefits of making the right decisions may accrue to others, or to our descendants, but they are benefits nonetheless.\u201d<\/p>\n “The cistern at EMU, for instance, may reduce the amount EMU pays for using city\u00a0water by up to $4,000 annually. But considering that the cost of the project is\u00a0nearly $100,000 (with about half the cost covered by a grant from the National Fish\u00a0and Wildlife Federation’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund), EMU didn’t build the\u00a0cistern to save money in the short term.”<\/p>\n It was built it in part to enhance the health of the trees and stream in a small park owned by the university. The stream connects with waterways that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. So protecting the feeder stream ultimately contributes to the health of the Bay.<\/p>\n Back to being a campus visitor. . . Here\u2019s a hint at the subtle differences you might notice. Let\u2019s just say a rickshaw driver from India would look at home on this campus \u2013 not too different from the EMU employee with muscular calves pedaling a bike hitched to a long cart bearing storage containers. This is the way the recycling bins around campus are serviced. No fossil fuels.<\/p>\n No, no, these<\/em> Mennonites do not<\/em> drive horse-drawn buggies. They are modern<\/em> Mennonites. In fact, half of the campus community isn\u2019t Mennonite at all. But everyone here tends to walk a lot and ride bikes \u2013 not because they don\u2019t have drivers\u2019 licenses, but because they believe it is good for the environment and their personal health. \u00ad\u00ad\u00ad<\/sub><\/p>\n As an example, the undergraduate academic dean \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 who has close-cropped hair and often wears slacks \u2013 hasn\u2019t driven the one-and-a-half miles from her home to campus in four years. She walks, bikes, or takes public transportation.<\/p>\n Sure, if you look closely, you can find a woman who sticks to below-the-knee skirts and who wears a prayer cover on her hair. But look more closely, and you\u2019ll see that this woman is the 76-year-old historical librarian who logged nearly 400 miles<\/a> on her recreational bike between May and September. And who loves to backpack in Shenandoah National Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n This campus community doesn\u2019t lend itself to stereotypes. But it does lend itself to great eating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1,000 Edible Plants on 100 Acres<\/h3>\n
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Resurrecting Farm Skills<\/h3>\n
Long-Term Benefits<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>So If You Visit . . .<\/h3>\n