Loyola’s Student Government Association is planting seeds to provide free home-grown food to the Loyola community in a new garden.
The garden is set to be around the new Tom and Gayle Benson Jesuit Center. Once planted, it will be taken care of by the environmental department and be more like an “SGA funded project,” SGA sustainability committee head Rowan Sawyer said.
The food planted in the SGA garden beds will then go to Iggy’s Cupboard, which provides free essential items like food and hygiene products to the Loyola community.
Student manager of Iggy’s Cupboard Emmory Bridges does weekly shopping trips to get food for the pantry, and although she tries to get enough fresh produce for the week, she said it can be hard to find room for it in the budget.
Even with Loyola’s dining options, sociology freshman Em Bay frequently uses the pantry. Bay said they need to use Iggy’s Cupboard to be able to have enough food.
Bay said they’ve seen the lack of fresh produce in the pantry firsthand.
“Iggy’s is the only option of fresh produce I can get, so I would love more options and consistency in it,” Bay said.
Bridges said she is excited for this project to officially start, which will garner more community support for the cupboard.
“It’s one thing to have a food pantry, and it’s another thing to promote and help the food pantry be accessible and well-rounded,” Bridges said.
Sawyer said this project is something she feels good about because not only is it helping the community, but it’s helping the community see what SGA does.
“I think this one of the physical, tangible things recently that helps students realize that SGA isn’t just here and doing nothing,” Sawyer said.
