Our Commitment to Sustainability

DePaul Prep’s greenhouse and Wendell & Marie Smith Organic Garden provide a unique hands-on learning experience for our students. Rather than studying ecological care solely in the classroom, our students actively cultivate it right on campus.

The garden is an integral part of our Sustainable Urban Food Systems and Culinary Arts course. Students in the course plant, cultivate, and harvest our urban garden to create healthy and nutritious meals. Through this immersive, soil-to-plate experience, students gain a deep understanding of the importance of building healthy soils and protecting plants as they grow. Ultimately, they explore the essential relationship between understanding our ecosystems and creating a healthy, sustainable environment for our school and city.

Produce harvested from the greenhouse and the Wendell & Marie Smith Organic Garden makes its way directly onto student plates. Through a close partnership with our dining services team, ingredients grown and tended by students are regularly integrated into daily campus meals.

This collaboration gives our school community access to fresh, healthy ingredients while allowing students to see the tangible results of their hard work. By connecting our garden yields to the cafeteria menu, students gain practical insight into local food systems, seasonal eating, and sustainable dining practices.

In keeping with DePaul Prep’s Vincentian mission, caring for our environment goes hand-in-hand with serving our local community. Harvests from our greenhouse and organic garden are regularly shared beyond our campus walls to help address local food insecurity.

Surplus produce grown by our students is donated directly to Chicago-area food pantries, providing fresh, nutrient-dense food to neighboring families. Through these donations and service efforts, students put faith and respect into action, learning that sustainable agriculture is not only about caring for the earth, but also about nourishing and supporting our neighbors in need.

At DePaul Prep, local environmental practices are tied to a broader global perspective. Through visits to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, students explore international sustainability efforts, climate policies, and global development goals firsthand.

These experiences help students understand how the hands-on environmental work they do in our garden, greenhouse, and classrooms aligns with global initiatives. By discussing policy and international issues, DePaul Prep students build the knowledge and confidence to become informed advocates for sustainable change in their communities and beyond.