Community Wellness has classes, resources and programs for the entire MIT community.
Food systems
MIT is working to support a community where everyone has access to healthy, affordable, and culturally meaningful food in an environment designed for social connection, sustainability, and innovation.
Climate change & food
Food production and consumption are connected to climate change and carbon emissions at every level. From tackling single-use disposable items, to providing more delicious plant-based options, to partnering with local food justice organizations, MIT is engaging the campus to meet its quantitative climate goals and support healthy communities.
Recent and ongoing efforts
- After winning the New England Food Vision Prize, MIT is working on a plant-based field fritter (pdf) and a playbook for campus dining teams to add this versatile and locally produced entree to their menus
- MIT set a climate impact goal to reduce the overall greenhouse gas footprint of food purchases by 25 percent below the 2021-2022 baseline year.
- MITOS has also been a longstanding contributor to MIT’s Food Security Action Team, which carefully tracks and develops resources to support a food secure campus. MITOS worked with stakeholders to develop a climate impact goal that also explores how to recover all edible food waste in dining halls and retail operations where feasible, because redistributing surplus food to feed people is critically important.
- Experiential learning and events are an essential part of understanding and supporting sustainable food systems. Past experiential events have included:
- visit to Hannan Healthy Foods Farm
- shopping events partnered with The Daily Table
- a local low-cost market
- partnerships to incorporate Native American food and culture into dinner services with MIT’s Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life; ICEO; and MIT Dining
- MIT students also work on projects related to the campus food system for their degrees, including a digital mapping project and an architectural thesis on foodscapes.
Food justice
A sustainable food system also addresses the social, racial, economic, and environmental injustices embedded in food and farming. When solving for carbon and waste reductions, a sustainable food system also ensures access to affordable and culturally meaningful food, agricultural land, business opportunities, and safe working environments for all.
Plants & Pollinators
The Hive Garden on the Saxon Lawn is made up of pollinator-attracting plants, bringing awareness to the crucial role that bees, butterflies, birds, beetles, moths, and others play in sustaining our economies, food security, and environmental health.
In addition to the main Hive Garden, the MIT campus is also home to a growing number of Mini Hive Pollinator Gardens. These container gardens found outside of multiple dorms have been planted in partnership with UA Sustain, the MIT Office of Sustainability, Burton-Conner, MacGregor House, the Native American Students Association, and GSC Sustain. The Mini Hives across MIT will provide a pathway of native pollinator plants at the intersection of sustainability and Traditional Knowledge.
Key initiatives:
- Building relationships with organizations like CommonWealth Kitchen and the Daily Table
- Working closely with MIT’s food security efforts
- DoingWell at MIT helps students learn about food security and financial resources.
Eliminating food waste
Preventing food from entering the trash stream is one of the most effective changes people can make to fight climate change because it makes an enormous impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more about how MIT is working to stop food waste from entering our landfills by using centralized bins systems, helping community members make sustainable choices when hosting events, and more.
More resources related to food, wellness, and sustainability
During the spring, summer, and fall, the City of Cambridge supports farmers markets. Several markets throughout the year also accept EBT/SNAP.
In Somerville, the Somerville Winter Farmers’ Market (December-April) accepts SNAP/ EBT and HIP (Healthy Incentives Program). The Union Square Farmers’ Market in Somerville (May-November) also SNAP/EBT/Food Stamps, and several vendors also accept WIC and Elder Coupons.
Boston also has many farmers markets that are available throughout the week.
Additional campus food partners at MIT supporting sustainability
- MIT Dining - Residential and Retail Dining
- MIT Recycling Office - Food Waste
- Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS)
- MIT Food and Agriculture Club
