StartOrganic is expanding corporate organic vegetable gardening programs in the Bay Area

StartOrganic is a vegetable gardening service based in San Jose. Their first major corporate project was at PayPal's San Jose headquarters, offering weekly gardening lessons for employees and a vegetable farm right on the PayPal campus. I love the concept and hope more companies will offer similar programs. How cool would it be to start seeing organic vegetable gardens on the roofs of corporate buildings in San Jose? Check out their full press release and video below.

SAN JOSE, CA
StartOrganic Vegetable Garden Service announced today they are expanding their popular Corporate Organic Vegetable Gardening Programs, after their tremendous success with the Corporate Organic Vegetable Gardening Program at PayPal’s Headquarters in San Jose. Presently in its fourth year, the Program is StartOrganic’s most extensive corporate garden to-date with weekly gardening lessons for PayPal employees covering topics such as pest control, plant selection and spacing, as well as monthly workshops. It features 30 raised organic vegetable garden beds with 24 maintained by PayPal employees, under the guidance of StartOrganic, and 6 beds are used as demonstration gardens and maintained by StartOrganic. Other gardens StartOrganic has designed, consulted, built and maintain include the Saratoga Elementary School, The Forge at Santa Clara University, The Studio by Angi – Salon and Boutique, West Valley Community Services, La Mesa Verde/Sacred Heart, and the YMCA Saratoga.

“The number of benefits a corporate garden can provide is just incredible,” said StartOrganic Co-Founder Josh Levine. “For example, the PayPal Employee Vegetable Gardening Program lets employees grow their own produce on their lunch break or free time for their personal use or to share with co-workers. The gardening skills we teach the employees, they then use in their own home gardens to teach their families and neighbors, thereby improving their neighborhoods. It’s also a fantastic team-building exercise that allows employees to get outside and have an experience completely different than their daily routine,” concluded Levine.

“The PayPal Employee Vegetable Gardening Program has allowed us to showcase the huge health benefits of eating organic vegetables versus grabbing something from a vending machine,” said StartOrganic Co-Founder Troy Smothermon. “Employees are healthier because of their eating habits, but they also get personal satisfaction from growing their own food, not to mention the mental benefits of getting outdoors and away from their cubicle allowing them to positively re-charge. A corporate gardening program is the perfect way for a company to attract and retain happy, healthy and productive employees,” stated Smothermon.

Corporate gardens are an inexpensive way for companies to stimulate employee engagement. As a part of the program, StartOrganic offers company-wide vegetable gardening workshops which benefit all employees. Excess organic produce grown by the employees is used in company cafeterias, providing a truly localized food experience. StartOrganic will work with any company or organization to create a custom corporate garden program with the space available and unique needs of the employees. From consulting, designing, building, maintaining and training – the vegetable garden service facilitates the entire process and operation of the Employee Gardening Program. For more information about StartOrganic’s Corporate Organic Gardening Programs visit http://startorganic.org or call 408-888-1903.

About StartOrganic StartOrganic was founded in 2011 by local Bay Area residents, Josh Levine and Troy Smothermon. The company has developed many school gardens, community gardens and corporate organic gardens. StartOrganic’s goal is to empower and educate people throughout the South Bay Area by helping them to grow their own organic produce and build sustainable local food systems. For more information visit http://startorganic.org or Like them on Facebook.