C&S plants site for workplace gardens
C&S Wholesale Grocers has launched a new website to help businesses learn from its workplace gardens program.
March 26, 2015
C&S Wholesale Grocers has launched a new website to help businesses learn from its workplace gardens program. C&S operates gardens at seven locations, helping to support employee wellness programs and to support hunger-relief charities.
The website was developed as a free, online resource for companies and businesses of all types and sizes that are interested in creating workplace gardens for their employees, the Keene, N.H., company said.
“Our intention is to share what we’ve learned and to inspire other companies to start gardens of their own,” Gina Goff, C&S senior director of community involvement said in a release. “When we established our gardens a few years ago, there were plenty of resources available about home gardening, farming, and growing food in neighborhood lots, but nothing was specific to the workplace. Our website offers a rationale around the return on investment, employee engagement, and other tangible benefits.”
C&S established its workplace organic gardens with the overall vision to improve the health and well-being of its employees and to increase local food security. Over the last two growing seasons, 130 C&S associates at seven garden locations donated more than a half ton of fresh produce to local hunger relief agencies. The company’s gardens are as large as 65,000 square feet and as small as a couple of small containers.
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C&S also said Thursday that it has created a Workplace Garden Fellowship with Antioch University New England, with a goal of connecting faculty and students with C&S employees and community organizations. “There is no other Workplace Garden Fellowship at a college or university that I’m aware of,” said Dr. Elizabeth McCann of AUNE, “and C&S is a national thought leader on this topic.” Jess Gerrior, a PhD candidate at AUNE, has been selected as the Fellow for the 2015 growing season.
The relationship between C&S and Antioch University New England also includes the hiring of master’s degree candidates from the Department of Environmental Studies as interns to provide advice to employees and hands-on workshops about gardening at the workplace.