In 1850, Father Leo Meyer acquired the 125-acre Dewberry Farm just outside of Dayton, Ohio on a generous loan. Previously owned by John Stuart, the property consisted of vineyards, gardens, orchards, barns, and stables. For the next 175 years, devoted Marianists transformed this land into the central campus of the St. Mary’s School for Boys, later to become the University of Dayton. One of those founding Marianists, Brother Andrew Edel, was an avid gardener, horticulturist, and botanist. The first classes were held in a small building constructed for housing farm hands, and students were expected to participate in farm chores for the first 70 years of the school’s history.
One can imagine that utilizing student labor was the most affordable option for feeding the campus, but it also crucially reflects the mission of Marianists to provide an education rooted in work, stewardship, adaptability, and dignity for the poor. Early Flyers were studying engineering and medicine while raising chickens, cows, and crops. From the beginning, this relationship between the body, food, and the land was an essential part of the “whole-person” education. As tastes, economies, and education changed over the 19th and 20th centuries, farming’s relevance dwindled at most non-Land Grant universities. Food systems dramatically shifted from highly localized and self-sufficient to globalized, complex financial markets. The fields of Dewberry Farm were constructed over, the natural streams buried, and the agricultural roots of the campus became a memory preserved in campus archives.
Today’s Flyers are building on this long agricultural tradition to address food insecurity and sustainability in a world unrecognizable to UD’s founders. In 1850, about 5% of the world’s population lived in urban environments, by 1950 that was 30%, and by 2050 it’s estimated to be 70%. At the same time, increasing population, food waste, and land-intensive modern farming has resulted in about half of all habitable land on the planet being used for agriculture. On a planet with limited space and resources, continuing to expand our urban and agricultural footprint results in the destruction of ecosystems and displacement of lives. From this problem arises the modern Urban Agriculture movement to grow our food closer to home on repurposed plots within cities. By reducing the distance from farm to table, we can more affordably feed our communities while bringing much-needed greenery and connection into our concrete jungles. In 2019, a group of students and faculty from the Hanley Sustainability Institute (HSI) had the idea to pilot an urban agriculture site at UD.
Led by Katie Schoenenberger, at the time HSI’s Director of Student Engagement, a small group of students dug up and installed a plot of raised and in-ground beds. In collaboration with Steve Kendig, Executive Director of Energy & Sustainability, they chose the former NCR tennis courts at Old River Park as their site. As a repurposed space, this location exemplifies the purpose of urban agriculture. These initial HSI students worked with stakeholders to see what land the university was underutilizing, thought through the challenges of farming on a repurposed site, and put their hands to work to make it happen. As the student initiative expanded over several years, HSI handed off the farm’s operations to Facilities Management’s Office of Energy & Sustainability, where Patrick LaPerle, UD’s Urban Agriculture and Compost Manager, now oversees the farm’s operations.
Staff oversight allows the farm to operate uninterrupted through the summers and gives access to the equipment and knowledge of UD’s Facilities staff. A dozen garden beds grew to nearly 50, an orchard was donated and installed, the largest Level-2 composter in Montgomery County was acquired, and a handful of chickens now call Old River Park their home. A small team of part-time student workers from a wide range of academic disciplines do the work of weeding, watering, monitoring, and harvesting crops. Like the early founders and their students, UD’s Flyer Farm is highlighting the connections between food, service, and stewardship. In the last growing season, Flyer Farm donated nearly 5,000 pounds of fresh produce, eggs, and honey to campus and community partners. The vast majority of the food goes to Miami Valley Meals, who in turn prepares cooked and frozen meals for food pantries across the Dayton region. A set amount of those prepared meals are then given back to the Brook Center, UD’s wellness hub and food pantry for students.
Thanks to the work of HSI and Facilities Management, Flyers are farmers again for the first time in over a century. Genesis 1:29-30 reads:
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.”
Growing food and land stewardship is a labor of love in service to God, planet, and people. It can be tiring and at times frustrating, but preserving our direct relationship with the earth and feeding our neighbors comes with clear physical, mental, and spiritual benefits.
Now six years after ground broke on the site, Tess Keener, Sustainability Planning and Evaluation Manager, wants to see this valuable campus resource utilized to its fullest potential. Unlike the earliest days in the university, Flyer Farm could never reasonably provide the volume to feed the nearly 10,000 students on campus today. As a university-sponsored agriculture site, this farm has the privilege of prioritizing education, student leadership, and wellness instead of simply yield and production. The Office of Energy & Sustainability is actively seeking out partnerships with student groups, faculty-led courses, and staff programming. Whether for research, volunteer hours, educational tours, recreation, or relaxation – Flyer Farm wants to support the work you do. To brainstorm partnership ideas, receive a tour, or make a donation to the Flyer Farm, please contact the Office of Energy and Sustainability at sustainability@udayton.edu.
A special thank you to University of Dayton Libraries and Archives for the images and historical information above.
This post was written by Austin Ward, AmeriCorps VISTA Member with the University of Dayton’s Office of Energy & Sustainability.