Danforth Plant Science Center

Take Me Here Using Metro Transit

The Danforth Plant Science Center has made sustainability the main focus since its inception in 1998. It is the largest non-profit dedicated to plant science in the world and is dedicated to feeding the hungry and improving human health, while preserving and renewing our environment.  The campus immediately greets you with nature with The Kemper Water Garden, reminiscent of a prairie and wetlands preservation area.  The campus’s cafe and main food hub does not fall short of Danforth’s vision for a more sustainable future.  

The café diverts 82% of its waste out of the landfill by recycling and composting both kitchen and customer food waste. The café offers reusable plates and cutlery for guests, and post-consumer to-go packaging and paper bags for carry outs. To help reduce food waste the staff utilizes different measured scoops to provide consistent portioning, and they prep day to day to reduce over preparing and over ordering. They also turn veggie scraps into delicious vegetable stock instead of sending them to the compost.

The menu is 60/40 vegetarian/meat and offers several healthy options for its campus employees. Some of the items from the menu are so popular that they’re named after employees from the campus. The Ivanhoe is a revered favorite: a vegan salad made with baby spinach, quinoa, chickpeas, shredded carrots, dried cranberries, and edamame, tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette. 90% of fruit, lettuce, and spinach is received from local distributor Sunfarm which sometimes sources locally. Milk is sourced from Prairie Farms, coffee and tea from Dubuque, and onsite catered events feature alcoholic beverages from UCBC, 4 Hands, and O’Fallon Brewery.

The café is located in the west wing of the main entrance building for visitors which is LEED Gold certified. EV charging stations are on campus and most of the buildings have white top roofs. The café dining area makes use of wall to ceiling thermal windows to use natural light to illuminate the hall.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Danforth Plant Science Center be sure to grab lunch at the cafe.  Keep an eye out for seminars open to the public to get your green thumb and tooth on!