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1/23/2019

Farmer of the Week: UMass Student Farm

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The UMass Student Farm is a student-run farm on campus that manages 14 acres of land and grows 35 different crops using ecologically sound practices. They supplied UMass Dining with over 10,000 lbs of local, fresh, organic vegetables in the past year. Produce from the Student Farm is featured in all four Dining Commons, at the weekly Student Farmers’ Market on Goodell Lawn, and at four Big Y locations.​ The Student Farm also offers Fall CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares to the campus community every year, enabling students, faculty, and staff to purchase a share in the farm and pick up over 25 pounds of fresh organic produce every week for ten weeks (September through November). 
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The Student Farm is unique because of the power the students have to make decisions about the farm. They do everything from crop planning to marketing, all production tasks in the field, and analysis at the end of the season. They make all of the 
decisions about how to run the farm and spend their time. "We have a lot of trust put in us and carry a lot of responsibility, which may be intimidating, but it feels very refreshing when in most of our classes our biggest responsibility is turning in a paper," says Kyle Zegel, a Sustainable Food and Farming major from UMass in the 2018 Student Farm Crew. ​
This decision making power allows students to shape the program to their own learning objectives. For example, the 2018 crew made a lot of efforts on the farm to increase its environmental and social sustainability. This year the crew piloted inter-row cover cropping to reduce the amount of tillage, bare soil, and weeding that they had to do. Additionally, in 2019 the Student Farm provided 25 free CSA shares to campus community members that would not have otherwise been able to afford them using grant money from the Sustainability Initiative and Engagement Fund. In partnership with the Food For All Program, they also worked to donate all of the excess produce, flowers, and fresh herbs from the farm to Not Bread Alone in Amherst and the Amherst Survival Center.
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Grace McKay and Sarah Berquist making a delivery to the Amherst Survival Center.
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Accepting donations of beets and flowers at Not Bread Alone.
Throughout the season they donated over 5 tons of produce to these community partners. Carly Brand, a BDIC major and a member of the 2018 crew remarked, "I'm proud of the donations we were able to give to Not Bread Alone and the Amherst Survival Center on top of all the markets we have; the volunteers always received our deliveries with such gratitude. I don't think many people have full clarity on the issue of local food insecurity or the impact that we can have with a small redistribution." The farmers made small deliveries every week and often biweekly to Not Bread Alone for over six months this season. ​
Farming is already an extremely difficult profession to be successful without 100% turnover each year and many first-time farmers running the operation. However, the Student Farm always manages to persevere and come out on top of whatever challenges they face. Kyle Zegel speaks to this, explaining, "This year was a really tough year. We had several intense heat waves, an incredibly wet late summer and fall, and several periods of labor shortage.  We were hit hard with diseases ... and a lot of plants never made it into the ground, which made us short for our markets. 
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Carly Brand (pictured right) with Food For All students delivering flowers to Not Bread Alone.
Sometimes we work in torrential downpours or near 100 degree heat.  People get burnt out, sick and injured. We also have to constantly deal with the stress of crop failure and anxiety about finances, but what keeps me going on the toughest days is knowing that this work that we do is providing fresh, nutritious food to our community." Carly Brand add, "Even when it was painfully early or too cold to feel our toes, it felt worth it to be part of a strong, supportive community and to interact with our 'consumers' directly after. Working on the farm constantly reminds us to recognize the full value of the food we grow, and to do everything we can to prevent it from going to waste."
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CSA members picking up their weekly share at the Student Farmers' Market.
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Student Farmers Ainsley McStay and Sierra Torres washing swiss chard at the farm this summer.
Kyle's advice to readers that care about where your food comes from is to "learn about agriculture and see if you can help farmers make their systems more sustainable. Go volunteer for food waste recovery and food equity organizations in your area and understand the extent of food insecurity in your area. The more involved you get with the growing, processing, and distribution of food, the more you'll be able to understand about what work needs to be done in our food system."
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2018 Student Farm Crew pictured from left to right: Ainsley McStay, Amanda Brown, Kayleigh Boucher, Jackie Montminy, Jordan Lake, Lee Mcloughlin, Merav Dale, Nicole Mendes, Serena Hooper, Carly Brand, Sierra Torres, Sofia Cincotta, Kyle Zegel, Shannon Mo, and Avi Flynn.
Thanks so much to Carly Brand, Kyle Zegel, and the rest of the Student Farm program at UMass for all of the hard work you do to provide our campus community with affordable organic produce every year! For more information about the Student Farm, visit their website. Sign ups for the 2020 CSA program will begin in March- be sure to catch their Early Bird discount! Consider making a donation to the Student Farm to fund free CSA shares for our campus community in 2019.

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10/3/2018

UMass Permaculture is Hiring!

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Our Student Garden Coordinator tabling at the Sustainability Fair last Spring.
​The UMass Permaculture Initiative (UMPI) is looking for a new part-time Student Garden Coordinator! You can find details about the position here. 
The Student Garden Coordinator works under the Sustainability Coordinator of Campus Gardens to support the planning and upkeep of the UMass Permaculture gardens and education of garden visitors. For this role, the Student Garden Coordinator will work part-time for two semesters and the summer. This position works with all those who come through the garden, including volunteers, tour groups, and the UMass Permaculture Garden Crew. We consider the Student Garden Coordinator role an apprenticeship, to be fully immersed in all elements of the UMass Permaculture program.
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A student planting in the gardens.
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Golden beets harvested from the Franklin Permaculture Garden.
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Cayenne peppers picked for the Student Farmers' Market.
This is a wonderful opportunity for those who want to cultivate an eco-conscious community on campus. An ideal candidate would be someone with some practical experience in sustainable agriculture and permaculture design along with the ability to skillfully work with diverse groups of people in an educational setting.

To apply, please fill out this form. For more information please contact Dan Bensonoff at info@umasspermaculture.  
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A Student Garden Coordinator passing out herbs during a workshop over the summer.
Photo credit: Keith Toffling Photography 

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10/3/2018

Farmer of the Week: Joe Czajkowski

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Joe Czajkowski Farms carrot fields in Hadley, MA.
Joe Czajkowski Farm, located in Hadley, MA, has been supplying food to UMass Dining since 2015 and is owned by Joe Czajkowski, a third generation farmer. Joe's 400 acre farm grows a wide variety of crops including corn, winter squash, summer squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, strawberries and many more.  UMass Dining purchases from Joe year round and in the last fiscal year they purchased over 2 million lbs of produce from him which is over $500,000  of food. 
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Joe Czajkowski, owner of Joe Czajkowski Farms.
UMass Dining especially values their partnership with Joe Czajkowski because of his relationships with many other farmers in the Valley. Joe acts as a central point or aggregate for many of the farms in the area that need a buyer for their produce but cannot afford the insurance required to be able to work with some buyers like UMass Dining. Joe's involvement enables UMass Dining to purchase more local food than they would otherwise. Farmers who work with Joe will drop their products off at his farm and Joe will drive them to UMass each week with his own produce deliveries. Some farms Joe works with include Jekanowski Farms, Pine Hill Orchard, Szawlowski Potato Farms, and Smiarowski Farm. ​
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In a field of carrots with a view of the UMass Lederle Graduate Research Tower.
Joe also shares land with other farms. After spending over a hundred years in the Valley, farmers know each other's operations well. Neighboring farms will rotate their crops on each others' land to avoid disease and pest pressure that is unavoidable when you grow large amounts of anything in the same fields year after year. This year nearly a third of the squash crop in the valley was lost to disease. ​Partnerships like these allow farmers to share resources, knowledge, and connections and support each other in our local food community.
"Being able to supply UMass and the Chickopee and Amherst schools with healthier, fresher, locally grown produce keeps money, jobs, open space, and a diverse local economy in the Valley." - Joe Czajkowski 
​A huge thanks to Joe for supplying our campus with local food! For more information about his operation or to visit the farm, check out their website.

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9/17/2018

Farmer of The Week: Cold Spring Orchard

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Cold Spring Orchard apples.
Cold Spring Orchard is a research and education facility of UMass Amherst located in Belchertown, MA. The Cold Spring Orchard farm store has different varieties of apples to choose from every couple of weeks and also sells honey, maple products, jams, jellies, apple cider, and more. At Cold Spring, they offer pick your own apples, school tours, and resources for apple growers in New England from their research. They grows over 100 varieties of apples on over 50 acres of land. UMass Dining serves Cold Spring Orchard Apples from September until December each year and has been working with Cold Spring for years now. 
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Cold Spring Orchard apple varieties sorted and labeled at their farm store.
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Rows of apple trees at Cold Spring.
Shawn McIntire is the farm manager at Cold Spring Orchard and has been working there for years. He recognizes that eating local is more expensive. However, regenerative agriculture is essential for the future of our world, and the best way to support the sustainable farming movement is by supporting local farmers. Shawn explains that, “sometimes things might cost a little more around here, and it's just because there are more challenges to grow those things, but you are getting something a lot fresher, something that is more valuable.” 
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Shawn McIntire, Cold Spring Orchard farm manager.
​If you have the money to spend, it is worthwhile to invest in local farms that you know care for the earth, their community, and their workers. For small farmers to survive when they have to compete with industrial agriculture, they need support.
Thanks so much to Shawn and the rest of the Cold Spring team for working with UMass Dining and providing local apples to our campus community. To visit Cold Spring Orchard, check out their Pick Your Own and retail store hours on their website. To learn more about them, visit our 2017 blog and our 2016 blog about the Orchard!

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6/27/2018

Free Summer Meals for Those 18 & Under

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BabyBerk's veggie burger.
UMass Dining's award winning food truck BabyBerk is offering free meals to people ages 18 & under from June 25th, 2018 until August 10th, 2018. The truck will be serving meals Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:30am - 3:30pm with stops at multiple locations around Amherst each day. They are hoping to feed 560 people each day that they are in operation! No ID is necessary and no registration is required. 

​The date/time/location for each stop is below: 
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 10:30am-3:00pm from June 25th - August 10th (excluding Wednesday, July 4th) 

10:30 – 10:45 a.m., Rolling Green Apartments, 1 Rolling Green Drive
11:00 – 11:20 a.m., Colonial Village Apartments, 81 Belchertown Road
11:40 – 11:50 p.m., Butternut Farms Apartments, 12 Longmeadow Drive
12:10-12:30 p.m., South Point Apartments, 266 E. Hadley Street
1:00 – 1:30 p.m., Village Park Apartments, 497 E. Pleasant Street
1:55 – 2:05 p.m., Olympia Oaks, 85 Olympia Drive
2:20 – 2:45 p.m., North Village Apartments, 990 N. Pleasant Street
3:10 – 3:30 p.m., Mill River Recreation Area, 95 Montague Road
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A group of students in ordering food at Baby Berk in Amherst.
​Download a copy of the scheduled routes here: 
babyberk_summer_meals_route__2_.pdf
File Size: 4175 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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5/14/2018

That's a Wrap!

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It’s hard to believe that the 2017-2018 academic year is almost over! Let’s take a moment to look back on what UMass Dining Sustainability did over the past two semesters. 

UMass Student Farmers Markets

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Members of the UMass Student Farm CSA pick up their weekly share at the Fall Farmers Market.
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At the first Spring Farmers Market of the year, students paint pots for herbs grown by the UMass Student Farm.
The UMass Student Farmers Markets took place from September to November and during the month of April, providing an opportunity to support local artists, farmers, musicians, and vendors. The UMass Student Farm will continue to sell their CSA shares at the fall market starting again in September 2018. 

Farm to Campus Summit

In February over 35 individuals from 25 colleges and universities throughout New England came together for the Farm to Campus Summit hosted by UMass Dining to discuss food service sustainability. ​Attendees participated in collective and small group discussions to exchange strategies to measure, report, and increase utilization of local food and reduce waste.  Andy Kendall of the Henry P. Kendall Foundation emphasized how collective efforts such as those reached during the Farm to Campus Summit are integral to facilitate systematic change that will have positive impacts on regional farmers and overall food production in New England.
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Andy Kendall presents at the 2018 Farm to Campus Summit.

New Addition to our Gardens: Bees! 

​As part of an initiative to make UMass a more pollinator-friendly campus, two honeybee boxes have been placed in the Franklin Permaculture Garden. We are currently in the process of undergoing certification to become an official Bee Campus! 
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​Flowers, including those grown in the permaculture gardens on campus, are essential to the pollinators that make it possible to grow our food.

Earth Day Festivities

On this year's Earth Day, students representing UMass Permaculture offered seed bomb making at the Amherst Sustainability Festival and sold zines made by students in the permaculture practicum course at Easthampton's Pioneer Valley Zine Fest. On campus, the Earth Day Farmers' Market showcased the incredible variety of sustainability initiatives going on at UMass, ranging from Food Recovery Network to Rack City Thrift. 
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Students use pedal power to blend their own smoothies using a bicycle.
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Students play music at the Earth Day Farmers Market.
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Starter plants and herbs grown by the UMass Student Farm sold at the spring Farmers Markets.
A huge thank you to all of the growers, distributors, educators, and innovators who make it possible to foster a campus community that is conscious of its impact and constantly striving to be a leader in food system sustainability. We couldn't do it without you!

Photo credit: Keith Toffling

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4/23/2018

Farmer of the Week: North Hadley Sugar Shack

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Tapped trees at the North Hadley Sugar Shack in Hadley, MA.
The North Hadley Sugar Shack, owned by Joe and Shelly Boisvert, is located less than four miles from campus and supplies UMass Dining with high quality, pure maple syrup. The North Hadley Sugar Shack is a family-owned business that was started about twenty years ago in Hadley, Massachusetts. Last year in 2017, the sugar shack produced 2,300 gallons of maple syrup. Each year they collect sap from over 80 acres of trees and have 4,000 taps in use. They sell their finished products to Big Y, local co-ops, and UMass Dining. Their maple syrup provides a local, sustainably-made, natural sweetener for their local community that is a healthier alternative to bleached sugar.

​In this area, the boiling season starts in the middle of February and concludes around the first week of April when buds start to emerge on the trees. The sugaring process begins when each tree is tapped and sap is collected into blue, red, or black tubing. The North Hadley Sugar Shack is careful not to harm their trees by over-tapping them. Mark Moriarty, who has been a sugar maker for more than 10 years, explains that there should never be more than two taps per tree. He adds that if a tree is small enough that your arms can go around it, there should only be one tap. 

​A vacuum pump moves the sap from the trees, through the tubing, and into a holding tank. The sugar then goes through a reverse osmosis machine, which removes water from the sap and changes the sugar content from 2% to 17%. ​
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A tapped maple tree with a bucket to collect dripping sap.
It takes 40 gallons of sap from a maple tree to make one gallon of maple syrup.  The sap is boiled down so the water can evaporate out creating the thick, rich syrup we all love. Reverse osmosis is used because it reduces energy use and halves the amount of wood needed to heat their equipment during the boiling and evaporation process. Additionally, North Hadley Sugar Shack collects all of the excess water that the reverse osmosis machine produces as a by-product and uses it to clean their machine.
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A holding tank collecting sap to be boiled and made into maple syrup.
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One of the machines at the sugar shack reducing the water content to make maple syrup.
The final step is to put the sap through an evaporator to boil off the remainder of the excess water. The maple syrup is ready once the temperature of the liquid reaches 220 degrees Fahrenheit. If the syrup was to be boiled to a higher temperature, more water would be removed, creating maple candy or granulated sugar. Throughout the entire season, about ½ gallon of maple syrup is produced from each tap. 
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The wood stove powering the boiling equipment at North Hadley Sugar Shack.
​In addition to producing some of the most delicious maple syrup around, North Hadley Sugar Shack also has a Market where they sell all of their own maple products, flowers, and grass-fed beef, chicken, and pork. The North Hadley Market also provides the community with access to other local products including Mapleline Farm milk, Maple Valley Creamery ice cream, homemade bakery items, local craft beers, and local wine.
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The sugar shack has a wide variety of fun events coming up ranging from local food samplings and maple soft serve to a pancake breakfast and a tractor pull. Check out their events page for more information. ​​Be sure to stop by for some fresh maple syrup, beautiful mums, exciting activities, and delicious foods from other local businesses! For more information about North Hadley Sugar Shack, visit their website.
Thanks so much to the North Hadley Sugar Shack for working with UMass Dining and to Mark, Tucker, and Kevin for helping to create this blog post. UMass Dining appreciates our partnership and all of the hard work you do for our community. 

Photo and video credit: Keith Toffling Photography.

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4/16/2018

What Is a CSA?

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The Student Farming Enterprise's CSA Pick-Up at the UMass Student Farmers' Market.
CSA, short for Community Supported Agriculture, is a model used by many farmers to form a partnership between themselves and members of their community. This partnership is created when a customer buys a CSA membership, which then allows them to receive a certain amount of food from that farm each week in the form of a farm share. CSAs benefit both parties involved, as the membership provides up-front financial assistance to the farmer and guarantees the customer food from that farm.  
While many people often think of farm shares as consisting solely of fruits and vegetables, they can take all different forms, with products like dairy, meat, grains and flowers. CSAs are often seasonal, as the items available each week are those that are ready to be harvested at that time of year. In New England, summer and fall farm shares are common, but winter shares – often featuring root vegetables, apples, cheese, honey, bread, and other products – are available as well. ​
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Student Farm carrots with soil on them freshly harvested from the field.
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Sweet peppers harvested as an option at the Student Farm CSA pick-up.
According to Just Roots, a non-profit organization devoted to advocating for food justice and sustainable agriculture, the general framework of a CSA was first established in the early 1900s by a group of Japanese women who were concerned about the use of pesticides on imported and processed foods. Their system, called a “teikei,” translates literally to “partnership” or “cooperation.” More philosophically, and perhaps more appropriately, however, “teikei” translates to “food with the farmer’s face,” as CSAs provide members with the opportunity to get to know where – and whom – their food is coming from.
At a similar time as this Japanese model was being developed, various European countries were implementing similar cooperative systems inspired by a more holistic approach to growing food. It was only in 1984 that Jan Vander Tuin, a Swiss farmer who co-founded a CSA project named Topanimbur, located near Zurich, brought the concept to North America. Tuin presented the idea to Robyn Van En at Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Massachusetts, marking the first CSA in the USA. Within just four years of its inception, Indian Line Farm’s CSA membership expanded from 30 to 150 members. Today, there are over 1,000 different CSAs located all across the country feeding roughly 150,000 individuals.  
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Two UMass students filling their bags with fresh vegetables as they pick up their farm share.
Unlike conventional food systems where food is transported from producer to processor to distributor to retailer, and finally to the consumer, CSAs take out all of these “middle-men” and establish a face-to-face connection between the farmer and the customer. At this point in time, many of us have become so far removed from where our food is coming from that we often forget just how much time, energy, and care goes into it. By returning to a system in which we directly support the farmers that grow our food, we can support the individuals whose operations form the backbone of our local economy while developing a deeper appreciation for the food that nourishes us.
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A student planting lettuce starts wearing a Student Farm t-shirt that reads "Growing Food for a Growing Campus."
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Two students wearing vegetable costumes advertising for the Student Farmers' Market.
There are countless farms that offer CSA shares in the Valley. For help choosing the CSA that would work best for you, check out CISA's (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) Guide to Choosing a CSA.

If you are part of the UMass campus community, consider signing up for the UMass Student Farming Enterprise's CSA program. Commit to a farm share by May 1st and receive a $25 discount! Student Farm CSA pick up is each Friday from 12-4 in the Fall semester at the UMass Student Farmers' Market, hosted by UMass Permaculture and the Student Farm. Email studentfarm.enterprise@gmail.com for more information! 

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4/9/2018

Farmer of the Week: Martin's Farm

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Adam Martin and his family standing with a red "Martin's Farm" tractor at their compost farm in Greenfield, MA.
Martin's Farm has been a leader in the composting industry since they were established in 1987. The farm grew vegetables and had a food waste collection program to feed their farm animals. Martin's Farm decided to start processing compost because they became overwhelmed by the vast amount of food waste that was being produced in their local community. Today, Martin's Farm converts all of the food waste UMass Amherst collects into rich, dark compost that is then sold to local farmers and gardeners in the Connecticut River Valley. Adam Martin and his family own Martin's Farm, which was passed down from his father. Martin's Farm diverted 8,000 tons of waste last year.  
To make their final product, Martin's Farm first mixes together all of the ingredients they need for nutrient rich compost: food waste, cardboard, hay, and manure. They grind it all up through a piece of equipment Adam calls "The Beast." The mixture is laid into long rows to aerobically break down and is turned every couple of weeks by another piece of equipment to aerate and water the soil. In 3-4 months the compost is ready and is then dried, screened, and sorted again for any contaminants.    ​
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A pile of waste that has just been delivered to Martin's Farm to be converted into compost.
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A thermometer reading about 140 degrees F taking the temperature of a compost pile.
Until recently, Martin's Farm sold certified organic compost to local farmers and gardeners in the Connecticut River Valley. However, because of the contamination of plastics in the food waste they receive from UMass, that organic certification has been revoked. Contamination is a huge problem for Adam's operation, and when materials are not composted correctly by the UMass community, it has a big impact on the integrity of his business and his compost.  
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A tractor pulling a piece of equipment that turns each row of compost to aerate and water the soil.
Last year Martin's Farm spent $4,000 repairing trucks on their equipment after they had been ruined by metal forks that are incorrectly composted at UMass. Other main contamination problems come from plastic bottles, bags, and containers, and when these contaminants are shredded by "The Beast," they are broken down into pieces that are so small that they slip through all of Adam's methods of screening. "When you look at the rows of compost on the farm you can see the plastics peppered throughout the piles," Adam explained. Adam and his team spend about 10 hours a week sorting the loads they receive of compost from UMass by hand, but it is impossible to open every bag and remove every contaminant. "No one understands the extent I am going through to get as clean of a product as possible," Adam explained.  "I'm just trying to make a difference. I am a million and a half dollars in debt. I don't just care about waste diversion; I care about the final product. I want to make the best compost around."
The UMass community has the power to improve this situation by composting and recycling correctly and educating and encouraging others to do the same. Not only would it make a huge difference for Martin's Farm, it would improve the environmental benefit of composting if the final product was free of contaminants. When we asked what students can do, Adam said, "If you want to make a difference, sort your compost." It's really quite simple! Below is a list of composting guidelines:  
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The Martin Family in front of rows of compost in the process of breaking down at Martin's Farm.
  1. Be careful not to let metal forks, knives, and spoons slip into the compost bin when you are cleaning off your plate. They ruin tractor tires and jam the equipment at Martin's Farm.  
  2. Plastic gloves and pink sanitation towels are not compostable.  
  3. Metal cans, tinfoil, plastic water bottles, yogurt cups, and other recyclable matierals are not compostable.  
  4. If there is not a compost bin available, do not throw compostable to-go containers in the recycling bin. Throw them in the landfill bin.  ​In the same way that recyclables contaminate the compost, compostables contaminate the recycling. 
  5. Cardboard is compostable unless it is glossy or coated in other materials.  
  6. Carry reusable silverware, containers, and cups with you to avoid using compostable containers all together! Bioplastics can only be partially broken down through Martin's Farm composting process and the remaining bioplastic bits are sent to a landfill. Additionally, have offer no nutritional benefits to the soil once broken down.  
  7. Coordinate for your class, co-workers, or organization to visit and tour Martin's Farm to learn more about their operation and the importance of their work.  
  8. Do your research so you know you are composting and recycling your waste correctly and share your knowledge with the people around you.  
Adam points out that we only have 7 years before all of the landfills in Massachusetts will be at full capacity. However, 20-40% of the food that reaches consumers is thrown away. When it comes to compost, Adam remarks that it is really the folks at UMass that are "on the front lines for making a difference." 
Thank you so much, Adam, for working with UMass Dining and for taking the time to speak with us. We are so impressed and inspired by your passion and hard work to make our community more sustainable. To learn more about Martin's Farm, please visit their website.  ​

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4/4/2018

Our Wicked Fish: Telling the Story of Seafood

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For over 400 years, New England has been a key contributor to the regional, national, and global seafood market. Advances in technology, continued population growth, and rapid globalization, however, have made it increasingly challenging to balance demand with ecological sustainability. ​
As a consumer, sometimes the options presented to us are overwhelming and laced with misinformation. Amanda Davis, the founder and director of Our Wicked Fish, Inc., is here to change the way that we think about seafood. With the goal of educating the public on where the fish that we buy and eat come from, the Deerfield, MA-based nonprofit “encourages consumers and restaurants to reconnect with New England's local seafood through research, outreach, and social media,” as Davis explains. ​
In 2013, Davis graduated from UMass Amherst having earned a B.S. in Biology and the 5 College Coastal and Marine Sciences certificate. Davis shares, “I always knew I would pursue research that is marine related, but I never considered seafood sustainability an option until I started serving at 30 Boltwood in downtown Amherst during my junior year.” ​

​30 Boltwood receives deliveries of whole, locally-caught fish from their seafood vendor, BerkShore Seafood. Based out of Easthampton, MA, BerkShore prides itself on providing a carefully-curated, ultra-fresh product. BerkShore makes several trips to Boston every week to select locally-caught fish for the Pioneer Valley. As they like to say, “harvested yesterday, cut this morning, in your kitchen this afternoon.”
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Amanda Davis shows off a scup (also known as a porgy), which are found in southern New England waters starting in the month of May.
While working at 30 Boltwood, Davis was introduced to new varieties of locally-caught fish, including redfish, tautog, and striped bass. “These fish were beautiful, delicious, and completely unknown to me!” Davis says. “I quickly became fascinated by local fish as well as customers' reaction to local fish on the menu. Most people, including myself, have never been properly introduced to most of New England's fish. I wanted to know why.”
Davis’s goal is to get more people to experience the same “scrumptious, locally-caught fish” that led her to start Our Wicked Fish in 2015. According to Davis, one of the biggest factors preventing the widespread consumption of sustainable seafood is a lack of familiarity with available products. Species such as monkfish, hake, cusk, skate, and dogfish are found in abundance in New England waters, but these are not commonly-recognized names; as a result, they are rarely found in grocery stores or on restaurant menus. 
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A view of the Westport, MA coastline.
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Acadian Redfish provided by BerkShore Seafood.
“It seems like most of New England, especially we younger generations, have never been properly introduced to their local fish, therefore we do not know how to demand it,” says Davis, explaining that “weak demand leads to weak prices for fishermen,” and “fishermen just can't afford to sell lesser known fish species, even if they make up most of their catch.” Low prices could drive fishermen to seek out varieties that are in high demand and yield higher market prices, which are recovering from historical periods of overfishing. “If you want to support New England's fishery,” Davis suggests, “then eat local and in-season fish, especially the underloved species.”
Just like fruits and vegetables, fish are defined by their seasonality and locality. A wide range of species can be caught off the coast of New England at different times of the year, ensuring tasty local options during every season. By supporting the region’s fisheries, we as consumers are supporting sustainable practices as well as a local economy – and getting to eat a delicious array of seafood at the same time. 
Picture
Davis works with a striped bass during a cooking demonstration at the 2017 Taste of Amherst.
Picture
Dogfish tacos being being served in the UMass dining commons during the fall of 2016, as featured in a January 2017 NPR article. Photo courtesy of Allison Aubrey/NPR.
“Our seafood system will be more economically sustainable and environmentally sustainable when we diversify our consumption and create a stronger and more stable demand for lesser known species,” says Davis. “I know we can do it. I know we can sustain fishermen, fish populations, and our love for seafood all at the same time.”
Thank you so much to Amanda Davis for being a leader in the movement to ​support local,
​seasonal, and sustainable seafood from New England's fisheries! 

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