 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.  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.  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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