The Simple, Organic Solution
By Barbara Zemskova and Stephen Dessel
When one sits down to eat a Big Mac at the local McDonalds, he probably does
not consider the miserable life that the cow would have led. He considers neither the
environmental destruction industrial farms cause, nor its impact on future generations. He
simply cares about fulfilling his own basic needs.
Clagett Farm offers an alternative that is significantly more eco-friendly (as well
as cow friendly). On September 17th and 18th, part of the Global senior class witnessed
the next steps in environmentally friendly agriculture. On the first of the two senior trips,
students traveled to Clagett Farm to learn about sustainable community agriculture. This
is where several people each own a share of the farmland, and each receives a portion of
the harvest. They share the risk of having a poor growing season with the farmer, and
help to keep him in business; he does not have to fund his entire farm himself.
Years ago, Clagett was dedicated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as an
educational facility. It is basically an organic farm which also conducts various tests in
order to “produce high quality food with the least impact on the environment,” explains
Joyce Bailey, head of GESP.
Students had an opportunity to
participate in these experiments by testing
soil permeability. At the research plot, there
were six strips of different surfaces on a hill:
forest, conventional tilling, hay and corn,
winter rye and legumes, grass, and a split
between dirt and pavement. Each of the
surfaces was “rained” on by a hose, and the
water was collected at the bottom. A larger
volume of collected water meant there was
more surface runoff. Other than the forest,
the two crops that grow at Clagett produced
the least amount of runoff. In stark contrast, conventional tilling yielded four times more
runoff. The results taught students the benefits of organic farming because more runoff
leads to more erosion, which causes pollution of major water bodies such as the
Chesapeake Bay.
Clagett also reduces the impact of its livestock on
the environment. In conventional industrial farming,
cows are fed hay and corn, but little grass in order to
reduce the needed area for grazing. They also receive
large amounts of steroids to produce more flavorful meat
and antibiotics, which are necessary because of their
close quarters. However, because Clagett is an organic
farm, its cows are allowed to roam in the pasture, and
they are only given natural substances. As a result, it
raises “happier” cows which have an intrinsic value as
well as an instrumental value.
In the past, Global offered only one senior trip to Canaan Valley, but the addition
of a second one provided a quality alternative. Not only is it half the length, so students
do not fall behind in their classes, but it is also a quarter of the cost. The trip gave its
participants a chance to see farming techniques that they would normally only read about
in the textbook. “One calf was especially sweet and came up to me to pet him!” exclaims
Carolyn Engels. There is nothing quite as refreshing as experiencing a place with so little
noise and light pollution compared to suburban Montgomery County. On the first night,
students sat in silence for half an hour and recorded their sensations. They also had the
opportunity to do various other enjoyable activities, such as a night hike and preparing
their own meals. “Herbs and leaves don’t taste good raw and without ranch dressing,”
concluded Brett Bowers.