UW Student Farm Furthers Student Education, Community Outreach |  
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June 29, 2007 -- An idea sown last year for a student farm at the University of Wyoming came to fruition this spring with vegetable plants popping through the ground near the UW greenhouse.
The vegetable growing effort is an outreach to the community that educates students in the College of Agriculture's agroecology program, says Michael Baldwin of Fairfax Va., a junior majoring in agroecology and vice president of Agricultural Community Resources for Everyday Sustainability (ACRES).
Outreach efforts will include providing vegetables to needy UW students and the community, teaching children about the food industry, and educating students in the agroecology program who might not have an agriculture background, says Baldwin.
The one-third acre vegetable plot also shows the viability of sustainable agriculture, he says. "Farming is a diminishing entity. The small farms are pushed out by the corporate farms," he says. "Sustainable farming on a small plot of land shows the viability it can continue."
The idea sprouted in a conversation between Mary Huerter, who graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in agroecology, and Rik Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and the group's adviser. Huerter researched other student agriculture projects around the country, but the idea took root when she was introduced to Alyssa Wechsler of Laramie, a zoology and physiology/environment and natural resources student, who had asked Smith questions about sustainable agriculture for a class project.
"We realized it was something of a shot in the dark," says Huerter, who is president of ACRES, "but believed drafting the proposal would help us solidify our daydreams about the project as well as define our limitations."
Meanwhile, land near the greenhouse was approved for use by Stephen D. Miller, director of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station and associate dean in the college.
Smith says, "students have an opportunity to get their hands dirty and apply what they've learned in our agroecology and plant sciences classes."
The vegetable growing is more than just a project for Emmanuel Omondi of Kenya, in East Africa, a master's student in agroecology and director of a sustainable farming project in his hometown of Kitale in western Kenya.
"From my standpoint, what they are trying to do here is more than exploratory," says Omondi. "People are dying from hunger in my country. Ideas such as this one are what many small-scale farmers in Kenya are surviving on, literally. Small-scale farming drives the community. At home, community is everything, as people must learn to pool their resources to survive."
He will assist in areas in which he believes he can help. He also hopes this initiative can partner and/or collaborate more proactively with his project in Kenya.
Members of a prospective food co-op in Laramie always mention being able to buy locally produced food -- much more than buying organically grown food, says Smith.
"Eating good foods grown locally has become a major interest to a lot of people, even here in Laramie," he says. "The student farm can help meet some of those desires for local foods and probably play a role in encouraging others to get into the business."
Smith says several people in and around Laramie have expressed interest in their own vegetable farm and are either in the planning or early implementation stage.
"We can support that in a number of ways -- demonstrations, information sharing and the infectious enthusiasm the college students bring to the student farm," he says.
Various groups, including local greenhouses, have donated seeds to boost the project. Windmill Hill Greenhouse in Laramie donated more than $365 in seed, says Baldwin, and businesses outside Wyoming have also contributed.
Vegetables being raised include potatoes, onions, beans, lettuce, shallots, broccoli, radishes, cucumbers, carrots and squash. The group plans to sell vegetables at the Laramie Farmers' Market, and Huerter says she wants to find a way to fund two student positions at the farm next summer.
Photo
From left, Michael Baldwin, vice president of Agricultural Community Resources for Everyday Sustainability, Emmanuel Omondi, a master's student in agroecology, and Assistant Professor Rik Smith check plants at the student farm vegetable plot.
Posted on Friday, June 29, 2007
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