Located on 7. 5 acres just a few yards from campus, the farm has long cultivated partnerships in the area. The outreach includes hosting more than 1,000 annual visitors: students from elementary school to university level, members of churches and community organizations, and 400 local “shareholders.” All comers lend a hand with weeding, harvesting and other tasks; drop-in volunteers are also welcome during the warmer months. In addition to providing fresh, sustainably grown produce to community shareholders, WFCF commits a minimum 20 percent of its harvest to local hunger relief programs.
Dan Courter
High Stakes . . . A small farm in Waltham sows community outreach to thrive in the age of agribusiness. Bentley students who aided the cause include from left (above) David Stenhouse ’ 10, Patrick Kane ’ 10, John Maloney ’ 11 and (facing page) Lady Masucci ’ 11 and Jordan Coleman ‘ 11.
The Waltham Fields Community Farm (WFCF) project is a fourth-credit service–learning option in the Science of Sustainability course. Rick Oches, associate professor of geology and environmental sciences, began teaching the course in September 2008. His inspiration for the project was a community service day at the farm, held as part of the university’s Green Week initiative last fall. Eighteen student, faculty and staff volunteers spent a morning weeding a cauliflower patch and loading a truck with squash and potatoes.
Volunteers’ generosity is only part of what sustains WFCF in the era of big farming. As Oches observes: “Our students learned how community-supported agriculture has saved this small farm, and many others like it, from going under.”
“I saw the potential for my students to do a great service and learn about sustainable farming practices at the same time,” explains Oches, who discussed the budding idea with Shawn Hauserman, assistant director for academic programs at the Bentley Service–Learning Center.
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) came onto the scene in 1985; some 1,300 farms have adopted the model, according to data gathered by the Robyn Van En Center at Wilson College. For WFCF, the practice involves selling shares of the upcoming harvest season to Waltham area residents. The up-front investment eliminates most of the risks that drive small farms out of business, as the income covers necessities such as seed, fuel and staff. The season may offer a poor yield or excess bounty, as shareholders collect a weekly portion of the harvest from June to October.
A brainstorming session with WFCF Executive Director Claire Kozower identified a likely project for students to tackle: developing a self-guided tour of the farm. Course participants would gain on-the-ground knowledge of sustainable farming, while WFCF advanced its mission of public education.
The 350 shares that the farm sells each January are snapped up quickly. Kozower notes that some buyers split their shares, knowing they can’t eat all those vegetables by themselves. A WFCF share for 2009 cost $550.
“Divide that over 20 weeks of harvested lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and other organically grown, fresh vegetables, and you see it’s a good deal,” says Oches. “And this food has a low carbon footprint. It’s right in your backyard, while the food in a typical grocery store travels about 1,500 miles to get from where it’s produced to where it’s consumed.”
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