To support the health and well-being of our colleagues, we transformed part of the lawn outside our Hopewell, New Jersey cafeteria into an organic vegetable garden. The greens, herbs, tomatoes, peppers and much more grown in the organic garden are used in the cafeteria to enhance healthy menus. The company garden is making good use of the corporate campus as well as helping teach us about the benefits of eating local, organic produce. Colleagues are also able to attend lunchtime sessions on planting their own garden to help bring good eating practices home.

“The garden turned a lawn area into something that provides healthy organic produce for everyone to enjoy,” Dennis Flynn, site director says.

The garden is not the first agricultural enterprise at the Hopewell facility. For years, a portion of the site has been leased to a local farmer for crops and grazing cows, but now very local produce – from a few feet away – is prepared and served in the cafeteria.

“Our goal as a company is to help patients get healthy so it makes sense to support our own wellness by offering healthy foods to eat,” says Dennis.