All posts by jgerber123

I teach sustainable food and farming at the University of Massachusetts and try to contribute to my local community without causing too much harm....
Food Policy and Advocacy

We need 100,000 farmers!

Leave a comment

FROM:  Holistic Management International Blog

Why we need 100,000 new farmers/ranchers

Published on April 30, 2012 by

The why:  People are hungry – they need food and they need jobs

  1. Globally, We need to double total food production by 2050 to meet the world’s needs – farmers and farm rangeland are needed to grow that food – in the world, hunger kills more people than aids, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
  2. In the U.S., 49 million Americans live in food insecure households – meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from – New Mexico  is dead last on that list. One in six Americans struggle with hunger. 36% of households defined as food insecure have at least one working adult, and only 10% of food insecure households are homeless.
  3. Rural counties are disproportionately high in food  insecurity and hunger
  4. In New Mexico, only about 3% of food grown in state reaches the mouths of in-state consumers.
  5. Of the $2.5 billion received by New Mexican farmers each year, 80% is earned either from exports of dairy products and cattle or from sales of the grains to support these  animals.  Most of the remaining agricultural products in the state, such as pecans, onions, and chile, are exported as well.
  6. Food localization means New Mexicans, while continuing their food-export industries, would consume more of the raw foodstuffs grown or raised in the state.

Residents also would purchase more processed foods from local manufacturer, buy more of all kinds of food from local grocery stores, and eat out more selectively in local restaurants.

Why does that matter? It’s the ripple effect – and there are extensive studies- One simple example.  New Mexicans spend $124 million on fresh vegetables, but well over 90% of all vegetables grown in the state are exported.  Expanding the vegetable sector by 90% to meet local demand, while continuing to produce for export, would create 700 additional jobs.

I’m not here today to argue food localization vs. large, so called “industrialized” agriculture – although many people question the sustainability of that industrialized food system — pointing to:

  •  It consumes vast quantities of natural resources
  • It is heavily dependent on fossil fuel to produce synthetic fertilizer and process  package and transport food
  •  It consumes huge volumes of water
  •   It degrades soil

Many of my best friends are big ranchers and farmers, currently enjoying record farm/ranch  income and one of the strongest agriculture markets in decades. The Big farming and ranching folks are happy right now — and they are nervous.

Talking to a big rancher just yesterday he feels the “bubble” – the money won’t last, the drought is driving people out business, mad cow, pink slime, tagging and and other regulations make it challenging – in addition to the cost of transport to feedlots — the challenges of a beef diet – it goes on and on.

That said — realistically — big production is not going away anytime soon. It may change and adapt – but it will be there as part of the agricultural landscape, in one form or another.

With the smaller and medium sized guys, however  —- The question is one of sustainability, not just of the land or cattle – but of the people.

The average American farmer is 58 years old. The average cattleman is 61 years old.

And, oh, by the way —- according to Beef USA, 90% of all U.S. cow herds have less than 100 cows. So there is a declining population of people, with small herds, with growing challenges – and despite the current bubble — a disincentive to carry the ranch forward another generation, in the face of hunger and a growing demand for food.

That is why Secretary Vilsack says we need 100,000 new farmers and ranchers in the next 5 years.

We have a shrinking supply of  production , that is farmers/ranchers – with a growing demand for output – that is, food.

The good news is there is a new generation coming on that wants to farm and ranch and they are exploring new paradigms – problem is they often can’t afford the land, and there are programs with land trusts, USDA and others to assist — and they desperately want training — not only in production but management to run a smaller, efficient, profitable healthy enterprise. And interestingly many are doing it. Many of them are women – 30% of the 3 million farms are operated by women – today, women are twice as likely to take over an existing enterprise or starting a new one than men.

Farming

An interview with Adam, a young farmer in the Pioneer Valley

Adam Dole is a hard working farmer here in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.  I had the pleasure of taking classes with Adam as we were both working towards our B.S. degrees in the Sustainable Food and Farming program at UMass Amherst.  Adam’s interview, tells us a little bit about himself, his path and how he started his projects at “Solid Ground farm” located at the New England Small Farms Institute in Belchertown, MA.  He has a background in sustainable agriculture, and follows permaculture principles coupled with Japanese farming techniques.  Adam is growing local grain through his business known as White Oak Grains.  He is working towards getting more and more vegetable CSA shares sold and often distributes products at local farmers markets.

Adam is a great young man and a hardworking local farmer and I wish him the best in his endeavors.

Gregory Connor gregular77@gmail.com

Farming

Joe Swartz on “why he farms”

Joe Swartz is the owner of the Swartz Family Farm and along with Sarah Swartz manages the Meadow Street Market (the big blue barn) in North Amherst, MA.

The market is a year round outlet for fresh vegetables, local food products and crafts.  A great place to visit on Tuesday and Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Joe spoke at a community “fireside chat” about his experience growing up in North Amherst and farming today.  This event was sponsored by the North Amherst Community Farm community organization.  Please see this 5-minute clip and share it with friends who want to understand what motivates farmers.

Be sure to stop by the Meadow Street Market and say hello to Joe and Sarah:

Tuesday 3:30pm –  7:30pm

Friday 3:00pm – 7:30pm

Saturday 9:00am – 2:00pm

 

 

 

Activities and Events

Yes Farms Yes Food

Adam Barnard, who worked with me as a teaching assistant in my Sustainable Living class at UMass, created this Yes Farms Yes Food sticker as positive version of the “No Farms No Food” sticker.  In this video he talks about where the idea came from.

 

Adam shares his vision with the world through his own business Local Harmony:

We work to provide respectful land stewardship services to benefit the community, the earth and all its creatures. Integrating years of experience and knowledge in food production, landscape design and installation, tree-care and herbal medicine, we offer a variety of services that empower people through meaningful connection with the land.

We help raise awareness and understanding of local agriculture, health and nutrition topics through seasonally inspired workshops and classes.

You can learn more about Adam and his work at Local Harmony.org.   To prepare for careers such as the one chosen by Adam, take a look at the UMass Bachelor of Sciences degree in Sustainable Food and Farming.   Graduating seniors in SFF will be sporting our new tee shirt this summer!

——————————————————————————-

Education

Sustainable and Urban Agriculture Summer Classes Online at UMass

Two of the courses offered this summer as part of the UMass Sustainable Food and Farming program are:

PLSOILIN 265 – Sustainable Agriculture

In this course we will study the ethical, practical and scientific aspects of agricultural sustainability including economic, social and environmental impacts of food and farming. We will use systems thinking tools to compare industrial and ecological agriculture, and ultimately each student will develop a holistic management plan for a sustainable farming system. Click here for more.

STOCKSCH 290U – Urban Ag: Innovative Farming Systems for the 21st Century

This course explores the subject of Urban Agriculture through the investigation and evaluation of current urban farming systems. Using case studies, students will practice critical research skills including information gathering, analysis, and assessment to learn about contemporary urban farming practices. Click here for more.

These two courses are offered by the University of Massachusetts Sustainable Food and Farming undergraduate major, a Bachelor of Sciences degree in the College of Natural Sciences and part of the recently expanded Stockbridge School of Agriculture.

In addition to the Bachelor of Sciences degree in Sustainable Food and Farming, students not quite ready to commit to 4 years of college may be interested in the Sustainable Food and Farming 15-credit certificate program.  The certificate may be earned on campus or completely online.  More online classes will be offered this summer, winter and spring.

Business

Meet your neighbors at the Amherst Farmers Market

The Amherst Farmers Market is open from 7:30am to 1:30pm on Saturday mornings from May to November.  ———————————————–         Join us in downtown Amherst to meet your neighbors, pick up plants for your garden and food for your table.

View this 3 minute video to see what’s happening downtown on Saturday mornings!

And don’t forget to “like” the market here: Amherst Farmers Market

Farming

Amanda Brown talks about the UMass Student Farm

2012 Marks the 6th season of the UMass Student Farming Enterprise program. SFE began in the fall of 2007 with two students growing kale and broccoli through an independent study.  In spring 2008, it was established as a year-long project – spring and fall semester classes, with a summer farming component. It has been developed and taught by vegetable specialists Ruth Hazzard and Amanda Brown and the farm manager of the UMass Crop and Research and Education Center, Kyle Bostrom.

Here is Amanda speaking at the IGNITE Conference held in association the Earth Day 2012 celebration at UMass.

Graduates of the Student Farming Enterprise have started farming on their own, moved on to managerial positions at farms throughout the region and some have established employment with organizations such as The Farm School Project and The National Organic Farmers Association.

Adapted from the SFE web page  – UMass Student Farming Enterprise.

Questions?  Comments?  Email us, they’d love to hear from you!

    * studentfarm.enterprise@gmail.com or visit us on Facebook

Read More:

 

Education

Greenfield Recorder Article on Changes at “Mass Aggie”

Leave a comment

By RICHIE DAVIS
Recorder Staff

AMHERST — Students are getting back to the Earth — literally.  When a group of University of Massachusetts students hatched an idea to create a permaculture garden, they convinced administrators to let them convert a quarter-acre parcel near Franklin Dining Commons into a garden that would help produce a half-ton of produce to feed the dining halls.

More than 1,000 students were involved in preparing and managing the new garden, which could be seen as something of a return of UMass to its 149-year roots as Massachusetts Agricultural College (Mass Aggie).

Now, much bigger changes are under way at UMass, as some faculty point to a renewed interest in the earth that rivals the “back to the land movement” they saw in the 1970s. The Stockbridge School of Agriculture is being recast as the home of four-year as well as two-year degrees, in cooperation with a newly created Center for Agriculture that reflects the resurgence of interest among students of all stripes.

“There’s such an incredible interest in agriculture, not so much from students who want to be dairy farmers, but who want to have a house and who want to learn to grow this or that or to have land to milk some goats,” said Stockbridge School Dean William Mitchell, who’s seen the Sustainable Food and Farming program expand from 10 to 15 students when he arrived 3½ years ago to about 70 today. “We’ve got students in political science who want to learn about agriculture. It’s like the ’70s, when I was a student, and it was ‘back to the earth.’ This is almost the same movement; just a different generation.”

Stockbridge, which was authorized by the Legislature to offer a two-year course in practical agriculture in 1918, hasn’t had its own faculty or its own students since other disciplines at what grew to be the university become dominant.  “Even though agriculture has always been here, it’s fluctuated up and down in terms of importance,” said Mitchell, who directs Stockbridge, which he said has an impressive national reputation.

Academic programs at Stockbridge will come under the College of Natural Sciences and partner with the Center for Agriculture. The center will bring together research and Extension Service outreach programs, according to the center’s director, Stephen J. Herbert. But a symbol of its renewed support will be a new “agricultural learning center” being created as a hands-on training laboratory on a roughly 100-acre site within walking distance of the UMass campus.

The center will feature a restored 1894 barn that was once a showplace for Massachusetts Agricultural College, but has been boarded up since its last use as stables for UMass police horses. The barn, which Herbert and others hope to move to the new, undisclosed site with funds pledged by the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation and others, would become a visitors center, with classrooms and meeting space.

“As soon as we can get the barn up there and people realize we’re serious about this, I think you’ll find the community as a whole pitching in,” said Mitchell, who said the hope is to get financial donors from various agricultural sectors in the state to support “learning nodes” at the new center. There might even be a cranberry bog created, a small dairy herd or a golf green where students could try planting or maintaining different kinds of turf.
Coordinating fundraising and clearing hurdles for moving the barn and creating the new learning center — which Herbert said could be as large as 150 to 200 acres if it includes forestry — is Sandra Thomas of Greenfield, who over the past couple of years has helped Greenfield Community College create its Farm and Food Systems Program.

UMass already has agronomy and turf research farms in South Deerfield, but those facilities are strictly for research, not for the kinds of practical experience that will be available to farming and non-farming students alike at the proposed center, said Herbert.
“Students go visit the South Deerfield research farm but they can’t play in it, they can only look at it,” Herbert said. “Here it doesn’t matter if anybody screws something up. Then we try to correct it. It’s real-world agriculture.”

Stockbridge will have a new major — Sustainable Food and Farming — which is being reorganized from the program Plant, Soil and Insect Science professor John Gerber introduced  about 10 years ago, which as grown from five students in 2004 to 60 today.

Gerber’s Sustainable Living course has also grown from just 35 students in 2004 to over 300 today, said Gerber. “There’s a huge student awareness and upsurge in interest in the bigger questions — like how do we live more sustainably? That’s mirrored more in specialized interest in energy, green buildings, food and farming.”

But he added, “If you’re in agriculture, you have to learn with your hands as well as your head.”  A new agricultural learning center, he said, should expand possibilities for students, who now have a 2-acre plot at South Deerfield, where no more than a dozen students can raise vegetables with which they operate a small farmers market and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation on campus.

“I hope this will open farming up to a much broader group of students,” said Gerber, who thinks hands-on learning with livestock would also be a valuable experience. “I think a larger percentage of the student body in general is interested learning how to grow their own food.”  The proposed center, he said, could even be made available to the public to learn sustainable farming techniques to practice in their own backyards.

The UMass Faculty Senate is scheduled to take up changing the status of Stockbridge on May 3.  Mitchell said he’s spoken with veteran Stockbridge alumni who have been enthused about the planned changes to create a four-year Stockbridge degree and give the agricultural school a little more control of its programs.

“They comment, ‘It’s about time,’” said Mitchell, who said the school would have 200 students in its two-year and four-year programs when it launches in the fall. The goal is to have 500 students in five years, he added.  And having all of its agricultural-related programs under a single umbrella should help with recruitment.

The surge of renewed interest in farming — and in making the UMass agricultural programs more resilient — comes at a key time, says Mitchell, who entices potential supporting organizations with the direct question, “Who’s the next generation that’s going to take over your farm?”

Herbert adds, “We know that average age of farmers is 56 or 57. We need to train students as we lose older, experienced people from farming operations – as they retire. The world is getting more complex, with more hungry people all the time, so we need to have students well trained.”

—————————————————————————–

Links and photos were added and a few minor corrections (with permission of the author) were made to this article published by The Recorder.  You can reach Richie Davis at:|rdavis@recorder.com|or 413-772-0261 Ext. 269

Farming

Chris Grant on Local Farming

Chris Grant, owner of Grants Plants of Essex, MA and a graduate of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture also earning a Bachelor of Sciences degree from the University of Massachusetts, spoke at the IGNITE UMass event on Earth Day, 2012.  Chris spoke on the advantages of buying from a local farm.