1
Organic Gardening and Possibilities for its Implementation at Smith College
An Exercise on the Sustainable Use of Limited Resources
Erynn McInnis
EVS 300: Seminar
Environmental Science & Policy
Smith College
May 4, 2005
2
Abstract:
The focus of this paper lies in the comparison of conventional agriculture methods
versus those of sustainable alternative or organic farming, in terms of their impacts on the
environment and the sustainable use of limited resources. By looking at the economic,
environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable agriculture in comparison to
conventional practices, there is an emphasis on approaches that Smith College students
could take to further educate themselves on this topic. Specifically, I have investigated
possibilities for the implementation of an organically grown student-run garden at Smith
College, and the benefits that it would produce for Smith College from a systems level
perspective. This paper encourages Smith College students to become involved in what
the Five-College Consortium has to offer in terms of educational opportunities geared
towards the merits of sustainable alternatives to mainstream, conventional agricultural.
The detrimental consequences of conventional agriculture are pervasive and widespread,
and this is important for students to understand. Finally, the author urges for the eventual
involvement of Smith College students in an alternative methods, student-run community
garden on the Smith College campus or in the nearby vicinity.
Introduction:
Consequences of Conventional Agriculture:
The long-term viability of the world’s food systems and supply will depend upon
using natural resources in a sustainable way and not by destroying them. There is a very
high cost associated with current mainstream agriculture and food transport that makes
such practices unsustainable. This is the result of a combination of factors: policy
3
initiatives, including pricing, subsidies, and tax policies, encourage the excessive and
uneconomic usage of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the overexploitation of
renewable resources. Such unsustainable practices harm both farming communities and
the availability of necessary agricultural and environmental resources.
Critics would argue that new technologies have increased worldwide agricultural
production by new and increased mechanization, increased chemical use in the form of
pesticides and fertilizers, specialization, and successful government policies favoring
maximum production.1 However, many such conventional farming practices have been
connected to unforeseen consequences incurring many environmental and cultural costs,
including but not limited to: the increased resistance of insects and vectors to pesticides,
land degradation due to improper irrigation practices and wind erosion, groundwater
degradation, nutrient depletion, increasing costs of production, the disintegration of
economic and social conditions in rural communities, the resulting decline of family
farms, and the loss of biological diversity.2
Sustainability as an Evolving Concept in Relation to Organic Agriculture:
In contrast, to conventional agricultural methods, is an evolving concept of
sustainability that serves as the basis for alternative and organic farming practices. Indeed,
“sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Therefore
[organic farming practices emphasize the] stewardship of both natural and human
1
Feenstra, Gail. “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” [web document]. UC Sustainable Agriculture Research
and Education Program: University of California at Davis, December 1997. Date accessed 22 April 2005.
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.edu. Internet.
2
Ibid.
4
resources.”3 Sustainable agriculture seeks to integrate environmental heath, economic
profitability, as well as social and economic equity into innovative opportunities for
participants in the entire food system by using an ecosystems approach. This approach
“refers to an integrated strategy for the management of land, water, and living resources
that promote conservation and sustainable use, by both current and potential users”
(Jones, 26).
Organics as a Growing Sector of Agriculture:
In many countries around the world, organic agriculture is expanding to meet
increasing consumer demand due to its perceived health and environmental benefits.
“The organic sector at the turn of the century is broadly estimated to be worth USD 26
billion world-wide and is the most rapidly growing sector of agriculture, at anything
between 15%-30% annually, albeit from a very low base” (OECD, 9). However, organic
agriculture only accounts for 0.2 percent of total agricultural output from the United
States (OECD, 9). According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
National Organic Standards Board, “land area certified under an organic label grew at an
estimated 30% a year from 1991-1997 while the number of organically certified farms
doubled in this country. In 2000, more than 12,000 farmers managed 2 million acres
under organic rules. Yet these numbers represent only about 3% of the US fresh produce
market” (Liebhardt, 33). It is the belief of many people that organic farming can
contribute to an “economically viable, environmentally sound and socially acceptable
agricultural sector. However, the actual impact, particularly on the environment, depends
a great deal on the management practices of the individual farmer” (Jones, 17).
3
Ibid.
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Is Organic Agriculture Environmentally Sound?
All types of farming methods, conventional or organic, affect the natural
environment to some extent. However, two main facets of organic farming greatly reduce
the environmental harm produced by conventional methods. These are the limited use of
chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and fungicides, as well as increased soil productivity due
to the methods employed in the stead of chemicals. The agricultural use of synthetic
chemicals is a large contributor to many types of pollution, especially that of waterways
and the ecosystems they support. With organic farming methods, “impacts on water
quality are low because without the use of chemicals there is a lower nitrate leaching rate
then in conventional agriculture” (Jones, 23). The increased soil fertility of organically
managed land is accorded to “internal farm nutrient supply” (Jones, 23). Additionally,
there is greater biological activity in the soil due to the increased presence of earthworms;
however, there is no difference in the soil structure between organic and conventional
farms (Jones, 23). In contrast to conventional agriculture, organic methods reduce
irrigation needs because there are generally better water retentive properties in the soil.
Organic farming also has an effect on local biodiversity, and provides for an
increased abundance of arthropods in the absence of pesticide applications (Jones, 23),
which leads to greater numbers of species higher up on the food chain. Landscape
diversity is also achieved through crop rotation, which is another method of preserving
soil health. Organic farming stays away from monocultures, and instead focuses on a
diversity of crops that “enables a diversity of habitats to the benefit of local wildlife
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populations, although the actual impact of organic systems on the landscape is very
difficult to quantify” (Jones, 23).
Specific Objectives of Research:
Smith College, as an institution of higher learning, has a responsibility to inform
and educate its students in regards to such environmental problems relating to the
sustainable use of limited resources. Unsustainable farming practices, embedded within
conventional methods, are not isolated events, but an increasingly important issue with
consequences that will eventually affect a staggering amount of the earth’s population.
Students attending this college benefit from the usage of unsustainable agriculture to
some extent, and these students should have an opportunity to be informed of its impact
and to possibly make a difference by taking part in the creation and maintenance of an
organic community garden.
I have discussed the idea of beginning an organic garden on the Smith campus
with a number of other students, and the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive
and enthusiastic. A community garden should be realized, at some level, in some form,
on the Smith College campus or in the near vacinity. In addition to the positive
educational benefits that would be available to the students who participate, such a
garden would excite more interest among the larger student body and academic
community towards environmental concerns, not only relating to those concerns at our
local level, but throughout the world in general.
Methodology:
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Information for this paper was gathered primarily from interviews, while
background research was sought through several books on organic agriculture, the FiveCollege Course Catalogue, as well as academic and NGO websites, and E-mail
correspondence. I tried to identify ways in which an organic community garden could be
utilized by Smith College students. There seemed to be a number of possible ways to
bring such an experience to interested members of our academic community; however, I
was faced with many challenges and limitations.
I conducted interviews with the following persons: Dr. Michael Marcotrigiano
(Director of the Smith College Botanic Garden and Professor of Biological Sciences),
Gabrielle Immerman (Smith College Instructor of Horticulture), and Nancy Hanson
(Manager and Vegetable Production Supervisor of the SCA program at the Hampshire
College Farm Center). Additionally, I conducted E-mail correspondence with Katherine
Thompson of GAIA, and spoke informally with many individual students to assess
general student interest in such a project. Each of these persons was asked different
questions in light of their different expertise, positions, and responsibilities. All other
information was garnered through print and electronic media.
Results:
Organic Agriculture and Sustainability:
In our interview, Ms Immerman explained that the primary concern and benefit
of the whole organic movement is the environmentally responsible stewardship of the
local land4. “Conventional agriculture has a shorter sustainability horizon,” she says, than
4
See Box 1.
8
organic farming5. There are high inputs invested, in terms of machinery and chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, in order to receive the high yields associated with modern
industrial farms; however, environmental costs due to these practices are incurred over
the long term. “With organic or alternative methods, the farmer chooses to work with
natural properties, and not against them, to sustainably produce over longer periods of
time,” says Ms Immerman. The primary concern of an organic farmer is overall soil
balance and health; this is what the farmer is working for, because this is what ultimately
determines the health of the plants. “The healthier the plants, the less a farmer needs to
worry about pest control, which is where a lot of environmental harm takes place,” says
Ms Immerman.
Pest and disease control also becomes a market factor: minor pests and fungal
diseases that have no bearing on taste, such as apple scab, will tend to offend the eye of
an uneducated produce shopper. Ms Immerman noted that another aspect of the organic
farmer’s job is to broaden the general consumers’ understanding of what healthy produce
actually looks like. She says, “Being a successful organic farmer means breaking down
widely held assumptions of the “perfect apple” that is free of all blemishes.” Thus, in
educating the consumer, the organic farmer is also undertaking other market issues such
as shelf-life, packaging, and the real economic costs of food production.
Federal Organic Certification:
With California as a possible exception, organic farms are smaller in scale than
their conventional counterparts, and often represent a diversified operation that is more of
a whole ecosystem. It is not uncommon for an organic vegetable farmer to utilize animals
5
See Box 2.
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for pasture management and as a source of fertilizer, as a method to provide for the soil’s
long-term needs. Unfortunately, the word “organic” has become a buzz word to the
disappointment of many organic farmers who originally lobbied for federal organic
standards. “The word has been recently taken over by the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), which has established federal standards for what “organic”6 now
represents,” says Ms Immerman. However, this “taking” of the term “organic” has added
huge layers of bureaucracy to the process of becoming a certified organic farmer, and it is
now very expensive to comply with federal standards because of administrative costs.
Many farms choose not to go through federal certification, even though they comply with
all federal regulations in the production of their crops. Ms Immerman says that the
meaning of the term “organic” is more diluted now than when organic farming was a
more locally controlled movement.
Smith College as Part of a Larger Systems Perspective:
Because agriculture encompasses many sprawling issues, concerns related to its
sustainability must be considered from a larger systems perspective. Such a viewpoint
allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the effects farming practices have on
both human communities and the environment. When a system is envisioned in the most
complete sense, it encompasses the individual farm, the local surrounding ecosystem and
its inhabitants, as well as the communities that are affected by the farming system both
locally and globally.
Limitations to the Implementation of an Organic, Student-Run Garden at Smith College:
6
See Box 3.
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Unfortunately, there are many limitations facing the creation of any kind of
student-run organic garden at Smith College. The campus grounds are not managed
organically, and besides the issue of correct, federal certification, it would be difficult to
maintain a completely organic garden at Smith. The Physical Plant grounds crew is
largely responsible for the grounds maintenance, and there is little over-lap or
communication between greenhouse employees responsible for the arboretum and those
grounds crew members who administer pesticides and fertilizers to the campus yards.7
Other limitations to the creation of a student-run garden at Smith include a
general lack of acreage and available space for such a project; a lack of students
committed to the maintenance of such a project during the summer; a lack of a permanent
staff position to oversee the project during summer months; and negative associations to
past projects of this kind that failed to be successful. Past student-run gardens at Smith
were organized by specific houses during the “herbalist movement,” and the purpose of
these gardens was to cultivate herbs for use by the students in cooking and topical
medicines.
When interviewed, Dr. Marcotrigiano said that these student-run gardens were
quickly left to fend for themselves when students left for the summer. The gardens
became untidy and aroused complaints, and overworked groundskeepers had to pull them
up, to the returning students’ dismay in the fall. “Being a campus, there are extra
pressures to keep it looking beautiful and well taken care of,” says Ms Immerman, “the
7
The policy of the Botanic Garden relies on an integrated pest management (IPM) approach. Essentially,
this is a holistic ideology that combines careful observation of the life cycle of pests and host plants, good
selection of plants (i.e. are they meant to grow in such an environment?), so as to make informed decisions
of when and where to do an intervention on behalf of a plant’s health. This method incorporates the use of
pesticides when other, less invasive, techniques have failed and its use is considered appropriate.
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groundskeepers are very concerned with keeping an appearance of a pristine environment
due to issues such as alumnae relations, fundraising efforts, and peoples’ general
expectations of what a campus should look like.”
The Smith College Curriculum and Sustainable Agriculture:
The curriculum at Smith College emphatically does not take a position on the
merits of organic farming. However, horticulture classes do not focus on conventional
agricultural practices. During this semester, Biology 204-05 Horticulture classes have
been on two field trips to local organic farms. “In general,” says Ms Immerman, “the
college uses the best knowledge available from both conventional and alternative
practices, together, in an attempt to find the right and most appropriate balance.” The
enrollment in Smith’s horticulture classes has remained constant with around 30 students
each semester the class is offered.
When asked if the Biological Sciences Department could support a student-run
community garden as part of a lab requirement for horticulture classes, Dr. Marcotrigiano
said that due to the absence of students over the summer, and a lack of greenhouse space,
such a garden would be unfeasible. In addition, such a project would endanger what
Smith College already has. The Smith horticulture class covers a wide variety of issues,
and there is no other class like in within the Five-College consortium. If there were such
a lab requirement added to the Smith curriculum, the class would resemble other classes
already available through the Five-College system, and there would be no need for such a
class at Smith. However, Smith does offer several classes, stratified across departments,
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which cover issues related to sustainable agriculture.8 In addition to these classes, the
Five-College consortium has many more opportunities for students who are interested in
studies pertaining to sustainable agriculture.9
The Hampshire College Farm Center and Community Supported Agriculture:
Perhaps the greatest resource the Five-College system offers, in terms of hands-on
sustainability awareness is the Hampshire College Farm Center. Nancy Hanson is a
Manager and Vegetable Production Supervisor of the SCA program at the Farm Center.
In an interview with Ms Hanson, I was informed that the Farm Center was established in
the early 1970s at the same time the College was founded. However, in 1992, a Division
III student’s final project was a proposal to begin a Community Supported Agricultural
program.
Ms Hanson explained Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a concept that
supports sustainable organic farming practices. It serves to provide a direct link between
farmers and communities in a relationship of mutual support and commitment.
Shareholders of the CSA pay an annual membership fee to cover the production costs of
the farm, in turn; they receive a weekly share of the harvest during the local growing
season. By fostering a relationship with the surrounding community, the CSA takes on a
responsibility to produce food for its shareholders in a sustainable way. Through this
process, CSA provides a way for organic farms to be economically viable in the shortterm, while organic processes help CSA’s to be environmentally sustainable in the longterm. Additionally, because the produce raised by CSA’s are distributed locally, with
8
9
See Box 4.
See Box 5.
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minimal transportation and processing, the energy and limited resources usually invested
in these processes are conserved.
Ms Hanson describes the main goal of the Farm Center as a continued
involvement towards the education of consumers. “The Farm Center demonstrates the
importance of an organic system—the ecology of what’s going on in the field,” she says.
The CSA uses compost materials from animal waste as well as food wastes, grass
clippings, and leaves from Hampshire’s main campus and Farm Center. There are
currently thirteen acres of land invested in vegetable production, and the remainder is
reserved for cover crops. The Farm Center follows organic growing practices; however, it
does not go through the USDA process of certification.
In terms of labor input, there are three summer student interns, and one student
intern who is employed from May to November. In addition, an average of 20 or more
work-study students and volunteers help during the harvest season that runs from
September through November. “These workers and volunteers are motivated by their
own interest levels; however, these students are trending to be more academically
involved with sustainable farming,” says Ms Hanson. The Hampshire College curriculum
involves the Farm Center occasionally when classes will use the fields as “living
laboratories.” Some professors will use the grounds for conducting their own research,
which has included studies in entomology and soil science.
The Hampshire College CSA has grown from 30 participating shareholders in
1992, to a present number of over 200 shares comprised of four to eight people per share.
Twenty of these shares currently provide fresh produce for Hampshire’s dining halls.
While most of these shares are consumed by members of the Hampshire College
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community, the CSA is open to all surrounding community members in the local area,
and Five-College students have the opportunity to apply for internships “The Farm
Center is currently working to foster stronger ties to the academic vision of [Hampshire]
College, as well as working to add another growing season in the springtime,” says Ms
Hanson. This CSA is a well established community that has continuity from year to year
due to the full-time positions that Ms Hanson and the Farm Manager, Leslie Cox, occupy.
Most CSA’s or organically operated student-run gardens have to employ full-time
employees to oversee the day to day operations and produce growth during the summer
months when the majority of students are not present. Unfortunately, Dr. Marcotrigiano
made it seem very unlikely that Smith College would consider such a hire. However,
there are many other colleges and universities in the Northeast region that have made
such a commitment to fostering CSA’s alternative practices towards sustainable
agriculture.10
CSA’s at Other Northeast Colleges and Universities:
The most recent sustainable farming projects in this area include the Yale
Sustainable Food Project and a CSA at Wesleyan College. The Hampshire College Farm
Center was the first of its kind in the Northeast; however, many other educational
institutions such as Rutgers University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of
Vermont, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Bennington College, Vassar College,
and Middlebury College have all begun similar projects during the last fifteen years. For
the most part, these projects have been CSA and farm stand operations that comprise
anywhere from one to eight acres, where the majority are in the one to four acre range.
10
See Box 6.
15
Like Hampshire College, many of these schools provide their students with fresh produce
in the dining halls.
Food Safety:
There is a general belief that if a person eats organically grown food that there
will be added health benefits afforded to this individual. However, this fact has not been
scientifically proven. In a study of data collected by the U.S. government, pesticide
residues were found on 23 percent of organic fruits and vegetables, compared to nearly
75 percent of conventionally grown produce—all samples registered well below statutory
pesticide limits (Jones, 23). “With conventionally grown produce, a person is not
consuming something that is slathered with pesticides,” says Ms Immerman, “However,
by choosing to purchase organic foods, the consumer is voting with their dollar for
ecologically responsible land stewardship that is healthier for the consumer on a
systematic level.”
The Transition to Sustainable Agricultural Methods:
For farmers, the transition to sustainable agriculture requires a series of small,
realistic steps. It is important to realize that each small decision can make a difference
towards advancing a local and global system further in its effort for sustainability and
ecological responsibility. Ms Immerman’s above statement concerning the consumer’s
power in “voting with the dollar” signals the importance of the Smith College
community’s role in creating a sustainable food system. As a student body, we represent
a collective consciousness that can be mobilized against unsustainable choices. Through
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educated purchases and activities, such as support for local CSA’s or the development of
a student-run garden at Smith, our college community has the power to send a strong
message to producers and other decision makers about what we think is important. “Food
cost and nutritional quality has always influenced consumer choices. The challenge now
is to find strategies that broaden consumer perspectives, so that environmental quality,
resource use, and social equity issues are also considered in shopping decisions.”11 Local
CSA’s, such as the Hampshire College Farm Center, should be supported as vehicles for
encouraging an extended view of food production, distribution, and consumption.
List of Boxes:
Box 1: Philosophy of Organic Farming
Box 2: What is Organic Agriculture?
Box 3: The USDA Organic Standard
Box 4: Smith College Courses
Box 5: Five-College Consortium Courses
Box 6: CSA’s at Other Northeast Colleges
Box 1: Philosophy of organic farming (Dabbert, Haring, and Zanoli, 2004)
Organic farming can be seen as an approach to agriculture where the aim is to create
integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural
production systems. The term ‘organic’ is best thought of as referring not to the type of
inputs used, but to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the components—
the soil minerals, organic matter, microorganisms, insects, plants, animals and humans—
interact to create a coherent, self-regulating and stable whole. Reliance on external
inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible. In many European
countries, organic agriculture is known as ecological or biological agriculture, reflecting
the reliance on ecosystem management rather than external inputs.
11
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. http://www.sare.org/coreinfo/consumers.htm.
17
Box 1: What is Organic Agriculture? (Jones, 2003)
There are many definitions of organic agriculture. At its simplest, it is food that is
produced without artificial fertilizer or pesticides using instead only organic-based
fertilizers, like manure and vegetable-based compost, and natural pesticides, such as
predator animal species. It uses antibiotics and other animal health related products
only to cure sick animals and not to enhance yields.
Box 3: The USDA Organic Standard (Lieberhardt, 2003)
An ecological production management system that promotes and enhances diversity,
biology cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm
inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological
harmony.
Box 4: Smith College Courses (Smith College Course Catalogue, 2004-2005)
Biology 202-03: “Landscape Plants & Issues,” Fall 2005
Government 254: “Colloquium: Politics of the Global Environment,” Fall 2005
Economics 213: “The World Food System,” Fall 2005
Box 5: Fall 2005 Five-College Consortium Courses (Five-College Course Catalogue,
2004-2005)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst: “Introduction to Environmental Biology;”
“Plant Nutrition;” “Organic Farming and Gardening;” “Environmental Soil
Chemistry;” “Pesticides, the Environment, and Public Policy;” “Sustainable
Agriculture;” “Tropical Agriculture;” “Dialogue—Agricultural Issues”
Mount Holyoke College: “Global Resource Politics”
Hampshire College: “Agriculture, Ecology, Society”
Amherst College: no courses offered
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Box 6: CSA’s at Other Northeast Colleges
Hampshire College Agricultural Studies Farm Center, Amherst, MA. Est. late 1970s, 15
ac, CSA, farm stand.
Rutgers University, Cook Student Organic Farm, New Brunswick, NJ. Est. 1993, 3 ac,
CSA.
University of Maine—Orono, Black Bear Food Guild at Rogers Farm, Orono, ME. Est.
1994, 3 ac, sales via CSA, farm stand, farmers’ market.
Pennsylvania State University, Center for Sustainability, State College, PA. Est. 1995,
8.5 ac.
University of Vermont, Common Ground Student-Run Educational Farm, Burlington,
VT. Est. 1995, 3 ac, CSA, donations to local food aid projects.
Cornell University Student Farm, Dilmun Hill, Ithaca, NY. Est. 1996, 4 ac, CSA, farm
stand.
Dartmouth College Organic Farm, Hanover, NH. Est. 1996, 2 ac, farm stand.
Bennington College Community Farm, Bennington, VT. Est. 1996, dining halls, local
community.
College of the Atlantic, Beech Hill Farm, Bar Harbor, ME. Est. 1999, 5 ac, dining hall,
farm stand.
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Poughkeepsie, NY. Est. 1999, 6 ac, CSA.
Middlebury College’s Organic Garden, Slow the Plow, Middlebury, VT. Est. 2001, 1 ac,
dining hall.
Discussion:
While the creation of an organic community garden at Smith College would
improve the understanding of healthy and sustainable growing practices at a level easy
enough to be understood by anyone interested in such a project; there are many
limitations facing the feasibility of its implementation. While such a garden at Smith
19
College may be unfeasible now, there are many different ways that Smith students can
engage this topic within the Five-College consortium and the Greater Pioneer Valley.
Smith College has the opportunity to advance its participation in the CSA movement with
the support and sponsorship of student groups, such as GAIA or the Bad Seeds, in
publicizing available opportunities within the Five-College consortium for furthering the
understanding of healthy and sustainable growing practices. Increasing the appreciation
of sustainability and alternative agricultural practices within our student body and larger
community, serves to address concerns at a local level, while also providing an avenue
towards a greater body of consciousness concerning environmental issues related to the
worldwide phenomena of mainstream agriculture and its consequences.
It will take a stronger Environmental Science & Policy program, or major, to
attract the numbers of students necessary to commit themselves to any kind of studentrun community garden at Smith. However, there are available resources at our fingertips
within the community, and it would be more sustainable, at the present moment in time,
to support and build upon the infrastructure already in place. The Hampshire College
Farm Center CSA and the Northampton Community Gardens are two such examples. If
environmental student groups such as GAIA (whose Katherine Thompson supported such
a project and would like to promote its establishment) and the Bad Seeds (a student
botany club) would publicize the opportunity the Northampton Community Gardens
offers, perhaps interested students would create a garden there; thus linking Smith
College to an effort addressing sustainable agriculture. If such a project was successful
and popular enough, garnering more interested and committed students, perhaps a
student-run community garden could someday become a reality at Smith College.
20
For the time being, the Environmental Science & Policy program should
encourage Smith students to pursue classes outside of our home institution, because there
is a wealth of diversity, in many topics relating to sustainability, to be had. Thus, classes
concerning sustainable agriculture and food systems, student organizations aimed at
sustainability, participating in local CSA’s, and interning at local farms within the
community are completely viable options for increasing Smith students’ awareness of
sustainability issues as they relate to agriculture, food production and consumption.
21
Works Cited:
Dabbert, Stephan, Anna Maria Haring, Raffaele Zanoli. 2004. Organic Farming: Policies
& Prospects. Zed Books Ltd, London.
Feenstra, Gail. “What is Sustainable Agriculture?” [web document]. UC Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program: University of California at Davis,
December 1997. Date accessed 22 April 2005.
http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/concept.edu. Internet.
Hanson, Nancy, Manager and Vegetable Production Supervisor, Hampshire College
Farm Center CSA. Personal Interview. 18 April 2005.
Immerman, Gaby, Smith College Instructor. Personal Interview. 12 April 2005.
Jones, Darryl. 2003. “Organic agriculture, sustainability and policy.” Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development. Organic Agriculture: Sustainability,
Markets and Policies. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.
Liebhardt, Bill. “What is Organic Agriculture? What I Learned From My Transition.”
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Organic Agriculture:
Sustainability, Markets and Policies. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.
Marcotrigiano, Dr. Michael, Director, Smith College Botanic Garden. Personal Interview.
15 April 2005.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. [web page]. Date accessed 16
April 2005. http://www.sare.org. Internet.