Farmed Out

I've said it a thousand times (including in my recent AASHE interview)but I'm totally in love with our farm. This summer GMC's Farm and Food project has been growing food and their stellar reputation. They had a great piece in the Burlington Free Press a couple of weeks ago on fossil free farming, and I hear there was a piece on them that I can't seem to find in the local paper over the weekend. Meeting with our new admissions team yesterday about sustainability initiatives on campus reminded me how frequently students and others here value the farm as an opportunity to practice the sustainability education they're receiving "in the classroom." In addition to the endless work to be done by committed folks in the farm program itself (talk to Lisa "Pantsy" Veniscofsky about what you can do to help out), more than 60 student volunteers last semester visited the farm as part of our dining hall compost program. The farm regularly benefits and contributes to grant ideas for the Student Campus Greening Fund -- e.g., the greenhouse energy upgrades of last semester, recent hoophouse renovations, and the local food programs of the last couple of years. And the summer Farm Camp, Poultney Farmers Market, and CSA programs are incredible outreach efforts that contribute to the College's strong reputation in the local community. If you're not yet involved with our farm somehow, you're missin' out. Stop down early in the semester to see what's growin'.