C&S Wholesale Grocers Proudly Announces the Launch of a Website about Gardening at Work and a Workplace Garden Fellowship with Antioch University New England (AUNE)
Keene, NH (PRWEB) March 30, 2015 -- C&S Wholesale Grocers proudly announces the launch of a website about gardening at work and a Workplace Garden Fellowship with Antioch University New England (AUNE).
The website was developed as a free, online resource for companies and businesses of all types and sizes that are interested in creating workplace gardens for their employees. “Our intention is to share what we’ve learned and to inspire other companies to start gardens of their own,” said Gina Goff, C&S Senior Director of Community Involvement. “When we established our gardens a few years ago, there were plenty of resources available about home gardening, farming, and growing food in neighborhood lots, but nothing was specific to the workplace. Our website offers a rationale around the return on investment, employee engagement, and other tangible benefits,” she noted.
The C&S workplace garden website URL is: http://gardens.cswg.com.
C&S established its workplace organic gardens with the overall vision to improve the health and well-being of its employees and to increase local food security. Each garden includes a Community Giving component to donate produce to local hunger relief organizations. Over the last two growing seasons, 130 C&S associates at seven garden locations donated more than a half ton of fresh produce to local hunger relief agencies. The company’s gardens are as large as 65,000 square feet and as small as a couple of small containers.
In 2015, the company will sponsor workplace organic gardens for employees and their families in five states:
New Hampshire (Keene), Vermont (Brattleboro), Massachusetts (North Hatfield), Hawaii (Kapolei), and South Carolina (Mauldin).
C&S also recently created a video about its workplace organic gardens, viewable here ----
http://community.cswg.com/cs-cares/community-involvement-videos#gardens.
Workplace Gardens Fellowship
The fellowship, sponsored by C&S Wholesale Grocers, is a unique partnership between a business and Antioch University New England, an institution of higher learning. Goals of the fellowship include:
- Supporting workplace organic gardening model and expansion
- Conducting scholarly research on employee wellness
- Delivering gardening educational workshops for workplace settings
- Connecting Antioch University New England faculty and students with C&S employees and with community organizations
“There is no other Workplace Garden Fellowship at a college or university that I’m aware of,” said Dr. Elizabeth McCann of AUNE, “and C&S is a national thought leader on this topic.” Jess Gerrior, a PhD candidate at AUNE, has been selected as the Fellow for the 2015 growing season.
The relationship between C&S and Antioch University New England also includes the hiring of master’s degree candidates from the Department of Environmental Studies as interns to provide advice to employees and hands-on workshops about gardening at the workplace.
About C&S Wholesale Grocers
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc., based in Keene, NH, is the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S. and the industry leader in supply chain innovation. Founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores, C&S now services customers of all sizes, supplying more than 6,000 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases, and institutions with over 150,000 different products.
C&S community involvement programs support initiatives to fight hunger and to promote the health and enrichment of communities that are homes to the company's employees and facilities. To learn more: community.cswg.com.
About Antioch University New England
Antioch University New England is part of Antioch University, a national university with campuses in Keene, New Hampshire, Yellow Springs, Ohio, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, California. Now in its 50th year, AUNE is a dynamic, innovative institution offering scholarly, practice-oriented graduate study. AUNE’s Department of Environmental Studies has conferred the environmental studies degree on more students than any other graduate school in the nation; alumni serve in leadership positions regionally, nationally and internationally.
Gina Goff, C&S Wholesale Grocers, +1 (603) 354-7414, [email protected]
Share this article