Major Corporations Add Gardens for Employees

[Dover]

NYT

PepsiCo, Google, Yahoo!, and dozens of other major firms are adding organic vegetable gardens to the menu of benefits they provide employees, writes The New York Times. At PepisCo’s headquarters, employees can now leave for lunch and cart back produce they’ve grown. Given that firms have less to spend on raises, health benefits, and other perks, organic gardens seem more and more like a cost-effective benefit. While the growth in corporate gardens demonstrates “a growing interest in sustainability” and gardening, it also reflects “an economy that calls for creative ways to build workers’ morale and health.” Human Resource Executive magazine sees the idea as a positive model and listed it as a ”top five benefits ideas of the year.”

In Silicon Valley, where household composting and other residential green behaviors is common practice, Google, Yahoo and Sunset magazine, have started organic gardens. Google’s garden features a special “self-watering earth box” container system. It wasn’t clear whether Google employees were actually gardening, but many were seen taking produce back to their desks, says The New York Times.

But the trend is also bigger than Silicon Valley: in Milwaukee, Kohl’s department store headquarters has a organic garden that produces food both for employees and local food banks. The corporation’s garden is tied in with the company’s child care center...cont'd

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/dining/12gardens.html?pagewanted=1&ref=todayspaper




http://dirt.asla.org/2010/06/16/major-corporations-add-gardens-for-employees/

[Berry Cool]

1. "Sorry, we can't afford a cost-of-living increase for staff this year.

Here's a cucumber."

(I think I can predict where the cucumber is likely to end up)

[Dover]

2. lol! Yes there is always the potential for sinister intentions

with corporations primarily because of the inherent commitment to profit above all else, including people. Sadly, that is fundamentally the foundation we're built upon.

And while we've GOT to get ourselves back to the garden...I doubt Joni Mitchell was envisioning that garden path leading toward the cultivation of corporate harvests.

[joshcryer]

3. More proof that corporations are going to save the day.

Irrefutable really.