FOOD & GARDEN
Things We're Working On:
Sharing traditions by preparing meals from local, seasonal and sustainably grown foods!
In addition to teaching techniques for composting, Sustain DuPage has a drop-off compost program. (Read for details).
A living classroom for teaching sustainable practices through growing food and gardeners!
Gardeners growing out seeds of trusted open-pollinated seed sources. Currently, these are largely from Downers Legacy Seed Library (DLSL). The seeds will be distributed equitably between DLSL, Sustain DuPage Seed Cache, and the growers.
The Locally Integrated Food Economy (LIFE) Atlas
Forged in 2016 by intern Margo Vesely, the LIFE Atlas is an inventory of DuPage County’s food economy. Within you will find ways to support local growers as well as resources for grow it yourself (GIY).
The Sustain DuPage Seed Cache is a seed storage network that collects and preserves locally grown seeds for use in the Sustain DuPage Garden and affiliate gardens. We collaborate to learn, develop and share seed saving skills and to understand why seed saving is so very important.
Receiving and packaging food-producing seeds for redistribution (whether or not they are open pollinated seed sources or not). These seeds are not a focus for seed saving, but just a way to get people growing and using seed that might be wasted otherwise.
The Food Security Squad (Currently Inactive)
Ensuring that all residents of DuPage County have access to healthy, locally grown, culturally-appropriate food.