Home >  Lifestyle >  Food

Thursday, May 01, 2003

By Betsy Kline, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Somewhere, Rachel Carson is smiling. On the campus of her alma mater, Chatham College, a modest greenhouse has become the incubator for a pilot program to bring homegrown organic goodness to the resident dining hall. Chatham was known as the Pennsylvania College for Women when the pioneer of the environmental movement graduated in 1929.

	Caitlin Bondy sows the seeds of delicious things to come in Chatham College's greenhouse. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)

Parkhurst Dining Services, a subcontractor for Eat'N Park Hospitality Group, has hooked up with the college's biology department to grow an array of culinary herbs for use by the campus kitchen to flavor and garnish the meals offered to the 285 students on the college's daily board plan.

The seeds of the idea were first planted last year when Chris Fitz, general manager of the college's dining service, and executive chef Rob Coyne took the concept to assistant professor of biology Roxanne Fisher. "We wanted to give students the freshest foods we could while getting them involved," says Fitz.

Early in the spring semester, Fisher recruited an eager and inquisitive first-year student, Caitlin Bondy, to actually dig in.

Starting some of the seeds in her dorm room, the 19-year-old premed student already has taken over a quarter of the campus greenhouse with approximately 200 herbs and strawberry plants. In the work-study bargain, Bondy also acquired responsibility for overseeing several plant physiology projects from graduating senior Lauren Kester, who had been in charge of the greenhouse since it opened in 2000.

Right now, there are several varieties of dill, chives, mint, and culinary workhorses such as basil, rosemary, parsley and thyme.

The keys to the greenhouse are in capable hands. The 2002 Mt. Lebanon High School graduate, the daughter of Sandra and Allan Bondy, says she inherited her mother's fondness for gardening.

In keeping with the goal of total organic cultivation, Bondy uses no chemical fertilizers. She's teaching herself the finer aspects of pest management by taking unwelcome bugs to the biology lab for identification under a microscope and reading up on the best methods of natural pest control.

By the end of this year, she hopes to have her own compost pile started for natural fertilization, recycling organic leftovers from the dining hall with the help of earthworms.

"Watering and lighting have been the biggest challenges so far," Bondy says. The artificial lighting in the greenhouse was actually too much at first. The energetic brunette pops in and out of the greenhouse daily between classes to make sure watering needs are being met.

The almost tropical climate of the greenhouse was a welcome haven during the icy winter months, she says. But the job is not without its hazards. She laughingly recalls a harrowing escape several weeks ago. Her arm became stuck in a drainpipe when she tried to unclog a soil filter. Alone and trapped under the sink where no one could see her, "I thought I would be spending the night there," she says. She finally managed to wrench free.

Bondy talks excitedly about her plans for coming semesters. Right now Burpee seeds are filling the bill, but she has her eye on heirloom tomatoes. Maybe raspberries. Over Easter weekend, she added oregano and some exotic and international herbs.

Asked if she'll need an assistant as the seed-to-feed project grows, Bondy's smile belies a hint of proprietary pride. "I like doing it myself."

Chris Fitz, general manager of Parkhurst Dining Services at Chatham College, offers a taste of the chef's Spicy Eggplant Pasta Salad, one of the rotating offerings at the vegetarian/vegan grains bar in the student dining hall. (Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette photo)

Already the fruits of Bondy's labors are on display in the student dining hall in the stately Andrew Mellon Center. Window boxes containing assorted herbs decorate the vegetarian and vegan grains bar, where students will eventually be encouraged to snip their own herbs to add their individual touch to chef Coyne's creations.

"We already purchase a lot of organics, beans and lentils," says Coyne. "The vegetarian/-grains bar was implemented two years ago and it is very successful. I try to do four different salads. There's always something different."

He's also committed to doing "education at the food line." Like introducing hard spring wheat. "The kids will ask, 'What is that?' They ask for healthy options and some students are very knowledgeable and some are just starting to experiment."

Traditional fare -- the made-like-Mom comfort foods -- still accounts for about 75 percent of the foods offered. "I can't keep mashed potatoes on the line," he says.

	Most of the herbs in the Chatham College greenhouse, like this variety of parsley, were started from seed by Caitlin Bondy.

At present, the kitchen goes through a case of parsley a week, mostly as garnish. The chef's rosemary, dill and basil usage depends on the weekly menu, but it is hoped that the greenhouse will provide nearly a quarter of his needs when Bondy gets her first full harvest of herbs.

General manager Fitz is pleased with the "fresh from the farm feel" the project has given to the dining hall. He foresees window boxes scattered around the large, airy dining hall, as a constant reminder of nature's bounty, as a source of both sustenance and beauty.

"We hope to take it to another level. Purchase more plants and, down the road, berries and tomatoes." In addition to getting this pilot program under way at Chatham, Fitz is working on a marketing plan, which he hopes to share with other Parkhurst education accounts at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., John Carroll University in Cleveland, and St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

But his greatest challenge might be this summer. Bondy will be leaving for Houston for a summer internship in pediatric oncology research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Fitz's office will be responsible for plant-sitting the greenhouse until she returns.

Bondy admits she'll be worrying about the health of her herbs. She's already warned Fitz that she'll be checking in on him.

"I'd be devastated" if he loses plants. "I'll be really mad."

Related Recipes:

Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Roasted Barley & Pesto Salad
Spicy Eggplant & Whole Wheat Pasta Salad