While the dining halls source only a small amount of their food from the towers, the small step is leading to more opportunities. Through a UD Dining cooking demonstration, curious Blue Hens indulged in a tomato mozzarella dish with a balsamic reduction featuring basil grown from the hydro-tower.

“It’s a conversation starter,” said Eric Bringman, resident district manager at UD. “I don’t think there’s a single student that came back from winter break that didn’t stop and say ‘Wow.’”

With their beaming rings of light and bounties of leafy greens, the towers are hard to miss. Dining officials took notice of all the attention. They planned a new project for the upcoming school year, expanding on the two current towers to implement hydroponic growth on a larger scale.

“Sustainability is really important, especially to UD Dining, because it impacts our future,” said Jennifer DeDomenico, marketing manager of dining services. “We try to operate more efficiently with the future in mind and to be more sustainable within our practices and our scope.”

UD Dining already established environmentally conscious methods in their operations, such as sourcing ingredients from local companies and featuring sustainable seafood every Friday at Caesar Rodney. Both organizations are looking forward to collaborating again, with director of operations Michael Ryan calling it “another dimension to the dining program.”

“Taking steps to promote sustainability is so important for big organizations like the University of Delaware,” Wynkoop said. “How we can change the way that food is produced is the first step in the future of food systems and how places like UD Dining get their food.”

The club’s end goal is to empower students by teaching them to grow their own food. The result is both sustainable and satisfying.

“Being able to quite literally eat the fruits of your labor is a really fulfilling feeling,” Wynkoop said.