Through an on-campus farm stand, a student CSA, and sales to the dining hall, the farm tries to increase students’ accessibility to healthy, local, organic produce. We aim to demonstrate a profitable organic farm so that students can enter careers in agricultural and culinary industries upon graduation. Students have the opportunity to gain experience in every stage of organic vegetable production from seed-selection to retail sales through volunteer hours and paid apprenticeships. Over the next five years, we will be expanding the physical farm site in order to meet the demand for organic produce on campus.
Additionally, MCOF is an advocate for integrating food studies into the traditional curriculum of the college. Issues of sustainability, food justice, food security, food culture, and health and nutrition are some of the most salient of our generation and the garden creates a space for students to intellectualize and actualize what they are studying in the classroom.
Finally, the garden facilitates students’ connections with the local community by hosting events, speakers, farm visits, and film screenings. Located in Addison County, “the land of milk and honey,” MCOF complements to goals and mission of the sustainable food movement in Vermont.