Just a stone’s throw from downtown Nashville, Trevecca Nazarene University stands as a flower-dotted campus in a concrete jungle—an oasis of growth, learning, and prosperity that fills all teachers, faculty, and visitors with an overwhelming takeaway: in everything you do, leave the world better than you found it.
While I’m sure this mission is put into practice in classrooms, it was the grounds (and what they signify) that caught my attention.
According to Jason Adkins, environmental projects coordinator and farm manager at Trevecca, the zip code where the university is located has a high unemployment and poverty rate. Only 17% of the area is covered by canopy, making it up to 13 degrees hotter than surrounding neighborhoods. And in an already blazing Tennessee summer, that discrepancy is even more palpable… and dangerous.
In addition to hotter temperatures, the zip code is in a food desert—meaning access to healthy, high-quality food and groceries is very limited. So, how do you remedy a problem like that?
“We plant gardens, educate kids to learn to garden, and implement practical ways to address food access,” Adkins shares.
On campus, you’ll find everything from greenhouses to livestock and rows of gardens and trees, all with a mutually beneficial goal of teaching agriculture and nurturing the community. On its perimeter, you’ll find fruit trees providing food to the local community.
It starts with the seed: seedlings are sewn, often during classes or camps aimed at teaching kids how to garden, either in the greenhouses or around campus. Then, the Trevecca Urban Farm program donates much of its harvest—including produce and eggs—to two on-campus food banks: one for elderly residents and one for Rebecca’s House, which supports students facing food insecurity.
Speaking of food insecurity, some 50% of imported food is wasted in the United States (which, Adkins notes, is enough to feed all Americans experiencing food insecurity). At Trevecca, the farm collects 500 to 1,000 pounds of food scraps from around campus each week, using it for compost, animal bedding, and eventually, rich soil. Coffee grounds? Those go straight to the worm farm—because, according to Adkins, is “the best fertilizer you can get.”
Every year, hundreds of students—from elementary school kids to college interns—step onto the farm to get their hands in the dirt and learn about sustainable agriculture. One of the farm’s most exciting programs is TreeCycle, funded by a $50,000 grant to help cool down Nashville’s hottest neighborhoods.
Through TreeCycle, local kids hop on donated bikes (fixed up at the farm—another hands-on educational initiative) and ride through the neighborhood, planting trees to bring shade and cleaner air to underserved areas.
And then there are the goats—easily the farm’s biggest crowd-pleasers.
“They clear land, they’ve got charisma, and they bring people in,” Adkins laughs. They also provide milk for soaps made right on campus, and yes—there’s goat yoga.
If you visit the farm on a tour or for an event, you’ll spot a quilt on the barn’s exterior…but it’s not just decoration. The design is a nod to Denise Boone, Trevecca’s first lady, whose mother’s family quilt inspired the pattern. Now, it’s nabbed a spot on the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Quilting Trail.
Trevecca Urban Farm isn’t about making a profit, it’s about making an impact.
“This is nonpartisan work—everyone eats,” says Adkins.
Through farm camps, food education, composting, conservation, and good old-fashioned hard work, Trevecca is showing that urban farming is not only possible, it’s imperative. And with a little help from goats, trees, and a whole lot of community spirit, they’re proving that sustainability can be fun, too.
To learn more, visit trevecca.edu/community-life/urban-farm-and-garden.
