Going Green: Carte Restaurant Serves up Fresh Lettuce Grown Locally in Aquaponics
The greens at Carte in Memorial Union are grown locally in aquaponics.
Carte, the sandwich and made-to-order salad shop in Memorial Union, is more than a place to enjoy a meal; it’s a commitment to eating green. The Wisconsin Union’s Dining Service’s partnership with Clean Fresh Foods, a Belleville, Wis. farm, provides sustainable produce to customers throughout the year.
All of the greens offered at Carte from lettuce to microgreens are grown in Clean Fresh Foods aquaponics. Aquaponics is a type of farming system where waste produced by farmed fish supplies nutrients for plants grown without soil, which in turn purify the water.
“One of Wisconsin Union’s Dining Service goals is to have a more sustainable operation which includes reducing our carbon footprint by supporting locally grown produce,” Restaurant Division Director Jim Long said.
The greens are more expensive than the non-locally grown produce that you typically get from distributors, but the price is worth the sustainable processes, according to Long.
“The quality of the lettuce and support [of a] a local farmer meets the concept we had envisioned for Carte during the conceptualization stage,” Long said. “The opportunity matched the goals of serving locally grown produce in Carte and a partnership was formed.”
