The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive upheaval all around\nthe state of Vermont. Yet, what these difficult times have also shown us is the\nimportance of local food systems in creating community resilience. We at\nHuertas strive to continue to support the farmworkers who build the backbone of\nour food system, but we wouldn\u2019t be able to do that without the dedicated and\nwonderful group of local growers whom we\u2019ve cultivated relationships with over\nthe last ten years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with Kristyn\nAchilich, program coordinator of Saint Michael\u2019s College Farm, who further illuminated\nthe importance of these local ties, especially in times of crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kristyn describes Saint Michael\u2019s College Farm as a \u201cproduction\nfarm on an educational setting.\u201d Growing on 1 \u00be acres of land, the farm\nproduces everything from specialty hot peppers (many of which are grown for\nHuertas) to berries and boasts a total of 3 market outlets: a\ndirect-to-consumer CSA, a self-serve farmstand, and maintains a relationship\nwith Sodexo to provide local healthy food to nearly 200 Saint Michael\u2019s\nstudents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind all this work is a dedication to promote farm\nbusiness development and hands-on education. Indeed, while the program began in\n2008 with just a few community members growing on \u00bc acre, it has since grown to\naccommodate a boom in student interest and now involves students in nearly\nevery aspect of farm operations. Much student involvement comes from Kristyn\u2019s course\ncalled \u201cFood Systems & Sustainable Agriculture\u201d as well as several teaching\nand learning opportunities that the farm offers in the winter and early spring.\nAs Kristyn explains, \u201cthe students sort of learn by doing. They learn about\nagriculture and food systems through a direct experience. It\u2019s very authentic\u2026they\nare producing food for their peers and the wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hands-on education is of paramount importance to the program,\nwith Kristyn going on to say that \u201cI think that hands-on education is so important,\nespecially for liberal arts students. They\u2019re trained to engage in theoretical\nexercises on societal issues, but they only get to look at it through a classroom.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being able to learn and work on the farm allows these\nstudents a first-hand look at what the food system looks like in Vermont \u2013 a value\nthat Huertas shares with its model of promoting student and community involvement\nto raise awareness of food system injustice in Vermont. This connection was not\nlost on Kristyn as well when promoted why she decided to start growing for\nHuertas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe mission of the farm is food, community, and education.\nEvery decision we make is based on meeting all three of those goals. We\u2019re\nhelping to grow food for a population that is in need of food access. But also,\nculturally appropriate food access. Bring direct awareness to inequities in the\nfood system and how people are coping is a huge thing we try to teach.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, Kristyn\nexplains how a lot of her students were initially surprised by the prevalence\nof the dairy industry in Vermont and \u201cwere completely unaware of the migrant farmworker\nworld.\u201d In this way, through her program and the relationship between Saint\nMichael\u2019s College Farm and Huertas, she is not only teaching them skills that\nyoung farmers need to maintain a viable and profitable business but also how to\ndo it an ecologically and socially responsible way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like all growers throughout the state, country, and world,\nSaint Michael\u2019s Farm is adjusting to a new normal under COVID-19. With Saint\nMichael\u2019s campus now closed for the rest of the year, one of the most drastic\nchanges is the lack of student involvement on the farm. That being said, they\nare adjusting to ensure they can continue serving the community through a\ncredit-based CSA, and the farm continues to be in operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reflecting on these changes and the multitude of food system\nchallenges that still lie ahead, Kristyn finishes our interview with a few\nwords that spoke to the importance of food and community in trying times: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor better or worse, the COVID-19 crisis is shedding light on this world [food system]. We\u2019re getting called on locally, and it doesn\u2019t get any more grounded and basic than that. I really hope we don\u2019t lose that system when this thing passes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
*traducci\u00f3n al espa\u00f1ol viene pronto<\/strong> The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive upheaval all around the state of Vermont. Yet, what these difficult times have also shown us is the importance of local food systems in creating community resilience. We at Huertas strive to continue to support the farmworkers who build the backbone of our food system, but we wouldn\u2019t be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5934,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5934"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/huertas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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