Cultivating New Farmers
(Page 3 of 5)
February/March 2007
By Jean English
Marada Cook, who comes from — and has returned to — a farm in Maine, is enthusiastic about her Hampshire College experience. She was attracted to Hampshire because of its independent approach to learning (no required classes, no grades, no tests, and an in-depth senior project). But what really sold her was a tour of the campus farm. She says: “I saw the most beautiful broccoli I’ve ever seen and thought, I have to go here and learn to grow broccoli like that!”
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Given the experiences students can get from Hampshire’s farm, greenhouse and community (Cook interned with a few local food organizations), she thinks graduates are prepared to farm. “Organic farmers seem to have no trouble finding employment when they get out of college,” Cook says, adding, “There are very few more real or more reasonable things to be doing. How many people have better food on their tables?”
The Hands-on Approach
The cost of college (more than $40,000 for four years at some state universities) might beg the question: “Should I spend this money on a degree, or would I be better off investing it in a farm?” The answer to that question will vary with the individual. A degree program provides some depth of understanding and confidence for future farmers, as well as other job opportunities; plus, financial aid can make the cost more feasible.
However, shorter and less expensive paths, such as internships, apprenticeships, volunteering and paying farm jobs may be enough to learn the fundamentals of farming, or to decide that you would like a more formal education in agriculture. A good place to find internship opportunities is the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service— also known as ATTRA— which maintains a list of sustainable agriculture internships in the United States and Canada at www.attrainternships.ncat.org.
For a combination of the academic and apprenticeship experiences, there’s a full-time, six-month Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz, which includes a 25-acre farm and the three-acre Alan Chadwick Garden. Tuition in 2006 was $3,750. Terry Allan completed the Santa Cruz apprenticeship, and says the program provides excellent all-around training in organic farming and gardening. “I have repeatedly applied the fundamentals I learned there to start successful organic farms and gardens in a variety of different climates around the world,” Allan says. Since graduating, she has set up an organic farm in southern Chile, grown cut flowers and vegetables in Virginia, managed the vegetable trials and research at Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine, and spent three years volunteering in India.
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