Harvest Provides Sustainable Dining Options at Rutgers University—New Brunswick
For those looking for something to eat on Rutgers University—New Brunswick’s Douglass campus, be sure to check out Harvest, the Institute for Food and Nutritional Health’s revamped dining venue explicitly focused on sustainability.
“When we’re talking about the three pillars of sustainability, we often focus on the economic and the environmental pillars,” said Alexandra Ceribelli, the chef manager of Harvest. “Is it good for the environment, and can it generate income?”
“But, for me, the social aspect of sustainability is what really ties those two together, and that’s what we’re trying to create as we serve healthy, fun, approachable food.”
Harvest, run by Dining Services in the Division of Student Affairs, is open five days a week and accepts both cash and meal swipes from Rutgers students, faculty, staff, and community members. Harvest rotates its menus weekly and focuses on serving a range of foods inspired by a variety of cultures across the world.
The weekly menus adhere to the principles of the Menus of Change and involve the active participation of Harvest dining staff members.
“One of the most important things about Harvest is that there’s a two-way street between the menus and our workers,” said Lance Pescoso, sous-chef at Harvest. “I always encourage our staff to bring recipes from their own kitchen so that we can turn dishes like pork vindaloo into something that we can serve while keeping the soul and spirit of the dish alive.”
While Harvest closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it re-opened under Ceribelli’s direction in Spring 2022. Since then, it has both served students and catered for university events like the Division of Student Affairs’ annual Data and Dine.
“Harvest, to me, is really important in demonstrating to the general public that good food can be made sustainably, with local ingredients,” said Pescoso. “A lot of the time, we even use ingredients that normally would have been thrown away to create amazing dishes.”
And, for Pescoso, Harvest will hopefully also have an impact beyond increasing social, economic, and environmental sustainability at Rutgers: it will encourage customers to take more of an interest in preparing their own meals.
“I just hope people get more involved with their food after eating at Harvest,” Pescoso said. “It’s really satisfying to make healthy, sustainable food from scratch that you can enjoy with friends and family, and that’s an experience that I think everyone should have more often.”
Harvest is located at the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, 61 Dudley Road on Douglass Campus in New Brunswick. You can access its website here.
