Community gathers to harvest food for university

Hundreds of community members gathered among rows of ripening produce on Sunday for the second annual UMD Food and Farm Festival to celebrate a harvest that produces thousands of pounds of food for the university.

After a summer of growing, fruits and vegetables are ready for the picking at UMD's 15-acre land lab, a farming venture where education and eating come together.

Sophomore Cameron Gustafson was at the land lab almost every day over the summer. He's one of ten students that regularly oversees all the growing that goes on at the land lab on Riley Road on Duluth's East side.

"We had to get the drip lines out for irrigation. We had to put the plastic to put the plants in, had to get the seeds, had to get the plants we had growing in the greenhouse in the ground, Gustafson said.

"Everything from 'A' to 'Z'. The hard work, I like working, so this is the perfect place do do it."

The rows and rows of produce are the result of months and months of laboring by students, university staff and researchers and even worker bees. Ray Lopez, the beekeeper for the lab trains students on how to keep bee hives healthy and growing. Two students help serve as beekeepers at the lab. Lopez said bees are an essential part of the farm system.

"It's not just what they plant and water, there's other insects out here that help them, Lopez said. "By having the bees out here it helps grow better products."

Students and faculty spend the winter researching which foods will grow best in these fields, and this season has produced a bumper crop, according to farm manager Kevin Moris.

"Last year I think we picked close to 15 or 20,000 pounds of produce. This year, I think we'll definitely double that," Moris said.

On Sunday, it was time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Organizers expected 200 visitors to the farm for a 5K run,music, tours of the fields and"farm to belly" menu prepared by UMD chef Tom Linderholm.

"A lot of the stuff we brought out here today, the coleslaw the relish, all of that is from the farm," Moris said.

Food from the farm didn't just end up on forks at the farm. It's eaten regularly on campus too.