Students dining at Gracie’s and Brick City Café might not know it, but some of the vegetables they’re eating may have been harvested that very same day on RIT property. In its fourth year of production with a “farm to table” spirit, a 120-foot by 60-foot garden at the university’s Tait Preserve in Penfield, N.Y., yields about 3,000 pounds of vegetables and herbs per year, used for healthy meals in dining areas and at special events served by RIT Catering. The raised-bed garden was designed to accommodate high density and high production to provide fresh produce to RIT. It yields green beans, Swiss chard, green onions, spinach, tomatoes, squash, kale, cherry tomatoes, culinary pumpkins, beets, eggplant, cilantro, fingerling potatoes, three types of peppers, and a variety of herbs. ‌ Carlos Ortiz/RIT Meghan Gilbert, senior gardens and grounds specialist at RIT’s Tait Preserve, harvests beets to be used at Gracie’s and RIT Catering. “Sometimes RIT Dining has had a hard time sourcing specialty ingredients such as habaneros and scotch bonnet peppers on a consistent basis,” said Meghan Gilbert, the preserve’s senior gardens and grounds specialist. Some of those ingredients are necessary for Jamaican and Haitian dishes, which have been added as occasional dining options to accommodate requests from students. “We’re able to fill a niche by growing items they cannot source elsewhere,” she said.  The preserve is a former quarry site, with very sandy soil not suited for vegetable growing. So, the garden beds are raised 30 inches off the ground, with topsoil and compost used to sustain the plants. “We space plants closely for high-volume output,” Gilbert said. “We try to provide RIT Dining with as much fresh produce as possible during our growing season.” Harvesting can be done as late as December, especially for kale and other cold-hardy crops, she said. Student employees pick the mature vegetables and herbs and place them in produce bins for delivery to RIT. ‌ Carlos Ortiz/RIT A hydroponic system at Tait Preserve is being used to grow watercress for use at Gracie’s and RIT Catering as ingredients, in salad bars, side dishes, or as garnishes. “Having this garden provides a huge advantage in the quality and freshness of the produce,” Gilbert says. “The shelf life, taste, and nutritional value is much better when you can serve it quickly after the harvest, in our case, sometimes as soon as the same day. You’re not getting that from any other supplier. It’s hyper local. It’s literally grown 15 minutes away from campus and delivered with an electric car.” In addition to the garden, the grounds also feature an orchard with about 600 trees of 11 different apple varieties that were planted in 2022 and could be ready with a viable crop next year. Most will be used for eating, and some will be used for baking or garnishing. Gilbert meets with the staff from RIT Dining every winter to see if there’s anything new they’d like her to try to grow. She’s already experimenting with microgreens and is using a hydroponic system to grow watercress, which she said was deemed the most nutrient-dense vegetable by the Centers for Disease Control. RIT has set a goal to serve more plant-based food. Gilbert said culinary mushrooms could help with that effort, with future production plans in the works. “It’s a great little niche for us to try to figure out how we can play a part in this goal,” she said.

Rochester Institute of Technology commemorated the Buffalo Bills’ final season at Highmark Stadium on Oct. 11 with a one-of-a-kind photograph that will be displayed in the new stadium when it opens next year. The 360-degree, extended exposure nighttime photo was created during the 37th RIT Big Shot, an annual event that has highlighted Croatia’s medieval Old Town in Dubrovnik, Cowboys Stadium, Churchill Downs, The Alamo, and dozens of locations in the United States. The project began in 1987 to teach RIT students how to solve complicated problems with simple tools and teamwork. On Oct. 11, thousands of students and community volunteers used flashlights and other light sources to “paint” the 52-year-old stadium with light, while the Big Shot camera team captured the image. ‌ Big Shot team This year’s Big Shot marked the first year the team created a full 360-degree panoramic image of a subject. The above image will be displayed in the new stadium when it opens next year. Eric Kunsman, co-coordinator of the Big Shot and assistant professor at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, said the support from the regional community made this one of the biggest Big Shot events in recent years. “Whether people came out because they love photography, the Bills, or both, the fact that we had thousands of people working together to create one photo is a powerful experience,” he said. “When people see the photo online or in the new stadium, they can point to where they stood or where they pointed their flashlight to help create the image. It’s an incredible memory for everyone involved.” This year marked the first time that the Big Shot team captured a full 360-degree panoramic image of a subject. In addition to the panoramic photograph, the team captured six additional photographs to ensure every inch of the stadium was documented. Rebecca Villagracia, a fourth-year photojournalism student from Orange County, Calif., has set her sights on a career in professional sports photography after graduation. Participating in the Big Shot was both a fun way to contribute to Buffalo Bills’ history and a learning opportunity. ‌ Big Shot team Over 6,000 volunteers came out to help create the Big Shot photograph this year. Each “brushstroke” of light in the image above was created by Big Shot volunteers. Villagracia operated one of the six additional cameras placed at the top of the stadium, along with one of the Buffalo Bills’ photography interns. “This was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity,” she said. “I’ve photographed in baseball and basketball stadiums, but a football stadium is so much larger. I also don’t do a lot of nighttime photography where you’re just keeping the camera shutter open for a minute or two, so incorporating that into an aspect of sports photography with the unique venue was definitely something cool to learn.” Dan Hughes, Big Shot co-coordinator and lecturer in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences in RIT’s College of Art and Design, said creating opportunities like this for students and the RIT photography community is always top-of-mind. “There is no better way to learn than by working alongside someone in the same position that a student might aspire to be in after they graduate,” said Hughes. “We’re grateful that the Buffalo Bills photography team helped make this possible for them.” Big Shot No. 37 was made possible by partnering with the Buffalo Bills and CEPA Gallery. The event is sponsored and organized by the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences in RIT’s College of Art and Design, NTID’s Department of Visual Communication Studies, Nikon, and the Estate of Henry D. Navas ’74 (MBA), ’77 MS (accounting) and Deborah L. Robbins. Other sponsors include Mccrae Industries, Hill + Valley Creative, and Scott’s Rochester Photo Supply. The final panoramic photograph will be available to purchase on the Big Shot website after Oct. 20. All six additional images will be posted to the website in the coming days. To keep up with the Big Shot community, go to the Big Shot Facebook page.