The University of Dubuque hosts a long-lasting salsa event

Over 700 pounds of ripe tomatoes, 58 pounds of green tomatoes, 65 pounds of peppers and 229 pounds of yellow onions have been harvested from the garden so far / Photos courtesy of The University of Dubuque

The University of Dubuque is hosting a “sustainable salsa celebration” featuring food grown directly in a restorative garden run by the university in Iowa.

The celebration took place on Sept. 12, and students are invited to sample ingredients grown in the garden in a variety of applications: through a make-your-own pico de gallo bar, as well as chips and salsa, pizza, fried green tomato. , BLT sandwiches and more.

The garden is tended by the students—in particular, a seminary student named Danielle Postma, who works in the garden over the summer to prepare it for the next school year. More than 700 pounds of ripe tomatoes, 58 pounds of green tomatoes, 65 pounds of peppers and 229 pounds of yellow onions have been harvested from the garden for use in dining services so far, according to a statement.

Andrew Mettert, Aladdin campus dining executive chef and director of dining services, said the team planned for the salsa celebration because the ingredients needed were still fresh in time for the school year.

The enduring celebration of salsa features a build-your-own pico de gallo bar.

The timing turned out to be perfect, because right before school started, the tomatoes started getting heavy, Mettert said.

Even before the salsa celebration, Mettert began incorporating garden-grown ingredients into the menu. He uses the tomatoes for pico, blended salsa, tomato soup, pizza sauce and even slices them to put on sandwiches.

“We have used almost everything in our small lot,” he said.

Goals and benefits

Mettert said one of the goals behind the garden is to improve student engagement and create an educational experience.

“That was one of the goals to connect students, to get students interested in learning about that particular property or learning where food comes from,” he said.

In addition, using local produce has other benefits, such as reduced environmental impact, Mettert said.

“It strengthens your community as a whole because you support the farmers, you support the financial farmers, you facilitate the environment by reducing the cost of transportation and your end product usually better because it can be harvested. closer to its peak taste and quality,” he said.

Product freshness is another benefit, according to Mettert.

“I think it’s cool on the chef side of things because I work with things that are very fresh – very clean. I don’t worry about where it comes from, how it’s grown. I know everything about it,” he said. “That’s rare on our side of things when it comes to most things in our food chain—we don’t have a direct connection to it, it comes out of a warehouse, it goes off a semi-truck.”

Mettert said he hopes to see the garden expand and include more ingredients, but he wants to make sure it’s done responsibly and with reducing food waste in mind.

“I want to see it grow a little bit, but also want to be careful that we don’t end up in a situation where we’re planting things that will never be used,” he said. “To me, that’s a real waste of energy and resources.”