University Sustainability Initiatives
Small Farm Management
A track in sustainable agriculture is offering students the opportunity to spend April through September running all aspects of the Abundance Ecovillage Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm: growing crops, collecting payments, planning, harvesting, distribution, composting, and more.
The CSA track is designed for Sustainable Living students interested in sustainable small-scale food production systems, and provides four of six elective courses required for their major.
“The core component of this six-month track is students running a small organic farm,” says Sustainable Living faculty Alex Kachan.
The Abundance Ecovillage CSA program grows and delivers a weekly box of high-quality organic vegetables and herbs to subscribers in Abundance Ecovillage, Fairfield, and Maharishi Vedic City. The Ecovillage and its farm are located 1.5 miles north of campus.
“CSAs are considered to be the most economically sustainable and gratifying way to farm, and they are rapidly expending in numbers worldwide,” Mr. Kachan said. “It’s truly a beautiful and wise way to provide people with pure food, while also helping to grow a vibrant local economy and community. Our students will get firsthand experience in being CSA farmers while using sustainable and holistic methods of agriculture such as the Grow Biointensive and Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture methods.”
Mr. Kachan said that students not only become more knowledgeable about sustainable food production, but they should even be able to establish and run a sustainable minifarm and make a living out of sustainable agriculture.
“There is a tremendous need and market for this,” he said. “The sorts of opportunities available include teaming up with communities, businesses, and organizations to grow organic produce for their members and employees.”
Demand for such a localized, personal, holistic, small-scale food production has been on the rise for the past 10 years and is only expected to grow.
“As collective consciousness grows, so does people’s environmental and health awareness, and they look for pure food that was grown in a truly sustainable way,” Mr. Kachan said.
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