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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

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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

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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.

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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 Five-

College 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.

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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 short-

term, while organic processes help CSA’s to be environmentally sustainable in the long-

term. Additionally, because the produce raised by CSA’s are distributed locally, with

8 See Box 4.

9 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.

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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.

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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

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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 student-

run 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.

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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.

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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.