The Institute for Food was started in 2015 with seed money from a Provost Interdisciplinary Innovation Award. We are working to build an interdisciplinary food centered curriculum and research program, an organic university farm and experiential education center, and community partnerships in support of healthy and equitable food systems.

We seek to educate from the ground up, to:

• prepare future leaders to imagine and enact a better food future
• support local entrepreneurship, revitalize rural communities, and contribute to a more resilient local food system
• foster engaged collaboration between students, faculty, community members, and industry
• tackle big issues using creative problem solving to discover innovative solutions in support of healthy eating, healthy food, healthy communities, and a healthy planet

Only through the generosity and vision of donors have we been able to successfully harvest and share our first season of vegetables from the Institute for Food farm and engage students in hands-on transformational learning. Your gift will allow us to continue to build and grow the Institute for Food at Miami. Please take a few minutes to consider how valuable a resource this is to our students and our community and help us continue these efforts with a gift.

There are several ways you can help us.

Unrestricted Gifts

These gifts allow the Institute for Food to apply your gift to the area of greatest need.

Designated Gifts

These include providing the following types of support:

• student internships or undergraduate research projects focused on the intersections between sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and healthy food
• research projects on sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and healthy food
• graduate fellowships with the Institute for Food
• expansion of the Institute for Food Farm to improve plant propagation, composting, beekeeping, farm infrastructure, permaculture plantings including perennial fruit trees and berry plants, landscaping for pollinators, and more
• preservation of the historic Austin-Magie Farm and Mill District

Equipment Gifts

We are transforming a field previously used for conventional seed corn and soybeans into an organic vegetable farm and experiential learning center. We would welcome new or used equipment that might be useful for farming, plant propagation, irrigation, composting, pest protection, i.e. fencing, as well as washing, harvesting, packing, transporting, and storing fresh produce.

Make a Gift