UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden

UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden The University of Illinois at Chicago has one of the first nutrition related teaching gardens. Take a walk through and discover how the food is grown!

Happy Earth Day 🌎 🫶🏿💚🩵🤍Earth Day is a reminder that our food system starts in the soil and depends on how well we care f...
04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day 🌎 🫶🏿💚🩵🤍

Earth Day is a reminder that our food system starts in the soil and depends on how well we care for it. At UIC, students learn about this cycle in the UIC Nutrtion Teaching Garden, then bring that food into the lab to wash, prep, cook, and serve. What’s left goes back to the compost, and the cycle continues.

This is how we teach nourishment: not only what’s on the plate, but everything it takes to get it there.

We’re ready to start another season with our hands in the dirt and our minds on the full food cycle from our soil to our dinner plate.

Want to join us this season? Send Chef Renea an email to get on the garden listserv: [email protected] 🌱

Two packages of docile Italian honey bees joined the garden yesterday in partnership with the Chicago Honey Co-op. 🐝 🐝 🐝...
04/20/2026

Two packages of docile Italian honey bees joined the garden yesterday in partnership with the Chicago Honey Co-op. 🐝 🐝 🐝

These pollinators play an important pollinating role in the HN food’s lab hyper-local food system, supporting the growth of fruits, vegetables, and flowers we will use in upcoming summer and fall classes 🍇 👩🏼‍🍳 👨🏽‍🍳🥘

We are wishing them a healthy season, safe flights, and strong honey production ahead. We have plenty of flowers to forage from: pansie, tulip, grape hyacinth, and alfalfa are shown in this photo collection. Stop by the garden to check these out today! 💐

Spring has officially sprung, and it’s time to get planting!Earlier this week, a few of our student garden volunteers an...
04/15/2026

Spring has officially sprung, and it’s time to get planting!

Earlier this week, a few of our student garden volunteers and Chef Renea gathered at the UIC greenhouse on the east side of campus to start seeds for over 600 plants. With the help of Chef Emily & UIC agricultural forewoman , these seedlings will be carefully nurtured over the coming weeks before being transplanted into the UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden after the frost-free date in early May.

This is where the growing season truly begins: these small seeds have big potential, and a whole lot of hands working together bring the garden to life.

Interested in getting involved this growing season? Email Chef Renea to be added to the garden volunteer listserv and join us in the garden: [email protected]

A core part of our work at the UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden is teaching sustainability in food systems and foodservice....
04/09/2026

A core part of our work at the UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden is teaching sustainability in food systems and foodservice. This study abroad experience extended that learning beyond the classroom and into a real-world setting in St. Vincent.

We hiked the Rose Hall trail through agroforestry systems where crops support one another, like planting cowpeas to help restore nitrogen in the soil and support the growth of other crops. We saw how farmers use practices like mulching and companion planting to protect and sustain the soil and its bugs and microorganisms over time.

Much of this work relied on manual labor rather than machinery, which gave us a better understanding of the time, coordination, and care required to produce food. Several students reflected on how this experience changed the way they think about food waste and the value of the work behind what we eat.

We also began to see and understand how access shapes food systems. In some communities, there is no easy alternative if food is not grown or shared locally. This shifted our perspective on food production, responsibility, and community.

The hiking experience with our guide, Selly, helped us connect what we study in our outdoor classroom at UIC to the realities of food systems, sustainability, and global communities. We are so grateful for the wisdom Selly shared with us 💚💛💙

✌🏼️ 🇻🇨

04/08/2026

Come along for a day in the life of a study abroad student! Learning in St. Vincent meant getting an early start, hands on work/learning in the gardens and banana field, afternoon dip in the ocean, reflecting on our experiences during shared meals, and a lot of walking as we moved through the together day as a team. 💪🏽 🧑🏾‍🌾👩🏽‍🌾🫶🏽 🏝️ 🇻🇨

Ecological Farming Study Abroad 2026: What did students learn beyond the classroom, you ask? 🤔 This 10 day study abroad ...
04/07/2026

Ecological Farming Study Abroad 2026: What did students learn beyond the classroom, you ask? 🤔

This 10 day study abroad program presented ecological farming theory and management concepts by asking students to apply what they learned as they prepared raised garden beds for planting. We spent time working in the garden with Marvin, observing RVA’s food systems firsthand, using composted manure for soil nutrition, and banana leaves for mulch. It felt rewarding to be learning in community like this.

Across the week, we engaged with:
• sustainable agriculture practices at RVA
• food systems and local production on the island of St. Vincent
• cultural humility and global learning
• physical work that required adaptability and resilience
• reflection and shared community living (dorm rooms, shared meals and farm chores)

Experiences like this challenge students to move beyond theory and into practice where learning becomes lived, not just studied. We are so grateful to all our teachers this week!
✌🏼️ 🇻🇨

01/13/2026

A sunny January day in Chicago… and the bees are alive and flying! 🐝☀️

You might think honey bees just hibernate quietly all winter, but they don’t. Instead, they cluster tightly in the hive, keeping the queen warm and surviving on the honey they stored in the fall that we did not harvest.

When temperatures rise above ~50°F, bees take short “cleansing flights”. These are quick trips outside the hive for hygiene and health. 💩 🧼 🧹 These flights don’t include foraging (there’s nothing blooming yet), but they’re a good sign the colony is alive and responsive.

Though the garden appears dead in winter, even small moments like this remind us how closely pollinators are tied to changing weather and temperature fluctuations.

Spotted today at the UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden ⛄️ 🐝 ❄️

11/10/2025

Study abroad info session TODAY at 1pm on Zoom! Join by emailing [email protected].

Don’t be left out in the cold next spring break! Learn about sustainability on tropical farms, strategies for resilient farming practices amidst changing climates, interact with communities on the island of St. Vincent, and plant a garden at the Richmond Vale Academy during this once in a lifetime spring break opportunity!

11/07/2025

Alert ‼️ chef Renea is hosting another Study Abroad info session on Monday 11/10 at 1pm. Email [email protected] for the zoom link, or log into her office hours.

Applications are open and spots are filling up fast! This opportunity is open to both undergraduates and graduate students.

We’re headed to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent to visit Richmond Vale Academy’s ecological farm over spring break 2026 (leaving the evening of Friday, March 20 and returning on Sunday, March 29).

Join us at the info session to learn more about the most epic field trip of a lifetime!
🏝️ 🍌 🌞

10/27/2025

Applications for Chef Renea’s study abroad trip are now open! We’re heading to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent for a visit to Richmond Vale Academy’s ecological farm during spring break 2026.

Chef Renea is hosting an info session on 10/27 at 2pm- send an email to receive the link: [email protected]

Ditch your snow boots and pack your sunscreen! ☀️ 👒 🌴

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1919 West Taylor Street
Chicago, IL
60612

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