In the heart of Los Angeles, strategically placed between the USC Hotel and a parking structure, there’s a hub for fresh produce that mixes sustainability with health and wellness.
“Obviously, you think about growing a farm in a city space and it seems ironic,” said USC Executive Chef Keith Shutta. “But there are benefits to having it right in your own backyard.”
At the USC Hotel, the USC Teaching Garden has undergone a recent remodel. Instead of a hydroponic system that featured over 60 towers of plants, the new model is equipped with soil-filled basins that allow for two feet of root growth.
This model is ideal for the types of plants that Shutta wants to put in his food. Going on his second year as executive chef, Shutta is optimistic about the possibilities the garden provides for the seasonal menus.
“A lot of the stuff that we plant for the fall carries over in the spring. There’s lots of opportunity to see what we can do for new menu items.”
The weather in L.A. allows these plants to be harvested year-round, with tomatoes being the only fruit (yes, it is a fruit) that has a better harvesting window in the summer months. There is an abundance of produce and herbs in the garden ranging from oroblanco grapefruit and shishito peppers to persian cucumbers and fresh basil.
“We’re very fortunate being in Southern California where this type of thing can happen,” said Shutta.
On USC’s campus, Moreton Fig menu items feature produce from the garden, as well as a variety of herbs and spices. A true farm-to-table style restaurant, its menu allows students and guests to indulge in food grown only a few hundred yards away.
The remodeling of the garden was spurred by a partnership with Farmscape, an organization that designs, builds and maintains edible gardens with the goal of bringing food closer to the places it is enjoyed.
“We’re adjusting irrigation, adding organic amendments, doing sequential planting and we do a lot of the harvesting,” said David Allen, CEO of Farmscape. “We want Chef [Shutta] to be empowered to harvest between our preferences and give us preferences on what works and what doesn’t.”
Allen said that before plans for the garden were set, Farmspace conducted multiple tests on the hotel space to ensure crops could flourish. Most importantly, Farmscape tested the sun exposure to the space to determine if the garden gets enough sunlight during the growth process.
“So much of how successful a garden is goes down to how well it’s planned,” said Allen.
The key to this partnership is the shared emphasis on sustainability efforts. Chef Shutta says this is a main goal of the project, especially since the USC Hotel is green seal certified.
“All of our equipment is energy efficient. Our laundry is done with safe chemicals, no bleach. We have restrictors on our plumbing so we don’t waste water. And with the garden, we use drip irrigation so it doesn’t shoot water everywhere,” said Shutta.
The official re-launch of the garden is taking place Oct. 12. The hotel will welcome USC Sustainability staff, as well as students and other faculty for hors-d’oeuvres made straight from the garden.