2018 UMass Student Farmers
For the past four seasons, the Food for All program has managed nearly an acre-large donation garden and has grown and donated hundreds of pounds of food each year. This season, Food For All is scaling back our production to focus more on distributing food being grown on campus that is already in excess. Through our transition from production to redistribution in 2018 we intend to create a more sustainable campus food system by using time, energy, and resources more efficiently. We are still growing sunflowers, herbs, and raspberries in the Food For All garden but the UMass Student Farm has put most of the garden in flower production.
Student Farmers harvesting swiss chard at their South Deerfield farm.
Food For All is working primarily with the
UMass Student Farm to integrate food donation and waste reduction more efficiently and effectively into their production systems. The Student Farm manages over ten acres of land and sells most of their produce to
Big Y and
UMass Dining. For many different reasons, there is inevitably food that cannot be sold through these two markets. This summer Food For All and the Student Farm have been working to develop a sustainable donation system that can be passed down to future student farmers to recover excess food the Student Farm is producing. So far this season over 2,000 pounds have been recovered from the Student Farm and donated to
Not Bread Alone, the
Amherst Survival Center, the
First Baptist Church in Amherst, and the
Food Bank of Western MA.
Oregano, chives, sage, and raspberries from the Food For All garden.
Not Bread Alone: https://chd.org/adult-services/community-based-programs/bread-alone/
Amherst Survival Center: https://amherstsurvival.org/
First Baptist Church Amherst: http://www.fbcamherst.org/food-pantry/
Food Bank of Western MA: https://www.foodbankwma.org/
