
Among the many resources around campus that students use to escape from classes, there is one tucked away in the Sequoia Hall Courtyard that stands out. Populated with growing fruits and vegetables, along with lush greenery and contrasting flowers, is the Marilyn Magaram Center (MMC). The MMC Wellness Garden is a spot where visitors can immerse in nature and learn about gardening and nutrition through hands-on experiences.
“To me, the mission of the MMC Wellness Garden is two-tiered: 1) To use sustainable and pesticide-free garden techniques and practices to grow a variety of native flowers, herbs and produces to nourish the CSUN community and 2) To provide hands-on gardening education and trainings (i.e. Healthy Growers Training certificate) through volunteer and paid experiences that promote sustainability and growth towards a healthier lifestyle,” said MMC Associate Director Jenica Smith.

The center strives to have a garden in every school to promote the healthy growth of both people and plants. The garden was created in 2016, with help from donations and a campus quality fee grant, according to their virtual tour. Annette Besnilian is the executive director of the Marilyn Magaram Center, as well as the Dietetic Internship Director who teaches nutrition and dietetic classes at CSUN. The MMC grows a variety of different plants, including fruits, vegetables, herbs and grains. It is also recognized as a pollinator garden, due to flowers on site attracting pollination from bees, hummingbirds and butterflies.
The garden utilizes two different composting systems to fertilize their plants. One being through the use of composted food scraps and the second being through worm composting. The MMC also utilizes aquaponics, a system where both fish and plants work together for cultivation. A pump brings water from the fish tank to a bed that aids plants in absorbing nutrients.

“CSUN students should know that the MMC has a variety of programming to help them gain experience within Nutrition, Dietetics, Food Science and Gardening. The MMC Internship program is open to all majors and accepts interns during the fall, spring and summer semesters,” said Smith. “The goal of the MMC Internship Program is to provide real-world, hands-on and experiential learning experiences for future nutrition and food science professionals, so that they may gain knowledge and practice skills.”
She explained that the programs offered by the center were created to highlight the issues that are often missed in classrooms and the MMC hopes to fix that through student learning and participation. As more students become engaged, they hope to close that gap.

“Other programming available to CSUN students include cooking workshops, gardening workshops, our Tea Haven Project’s workshops, as well as our services (ex. Nutrition counseling, diet and recipe analysis, and body composition testing), products made with Matador pride (available for purchase at the CSUN Bookstore and through the MMC Website), WIC on campus, our CalFresh Healthy Living program, our Whole Body Health Program’s free cancer toolkit and our Nutrition Experts website, which provides free recipes, blogs and tons of nutrition resources on various topics,” said Smith.
The MMC accepts volunteers throughout the academic year and urges those who are interested in getting involved to reach out. The center offers many opportunities for participation, with no specific majors required.

“The MMC received a lot of student participants/volunteers through the MMC Internship Program and service-learning projects from the Family and Consumer Sciences department, Public Health department, U100 freshman seminars as well as through MMC workshops and programming offered throughout the academic year,” said Smith.
She noted that CSUN students can follow the MMC on Instagram and Facebook, join their newsletter or visit their website for updates on available programs and workshops.
“We are the trusted source for food, nutrition and cooking resources for the global community. For any questions… CSUN students can email magaram.center@csun.edu,” said Smith. “We look forward to welcoming you into the world of the MMC.”