Organic Agricultural College - Kalo, Denmark

From the Eco-School in Kleeve I went on to Denmark to visit the Kalø Organic Agricultural College. I had planned a full day visit to talk to faculty, students and staff and look at the school farm. Unfortunately, the overnight trip was a nightmare series of late trains and missed bus connections and I didn’t arrive until the afternoon.

The setting of the school on the bay of Kalø is stunning even in the winter and certainly in the summer. The Kalø College is one of nine agricultural schools in Denmark that provides a formal farmer education. All schools follow a standardized curriculum but those who come to Kalø receive a much greener version of it. The faculty is currently working on a separate organic curriculum. It is not clear yet if they will deliver that program within the existing standardized curriculum framework or if they will have a completely new approach. One of the problems in the existing framework is that after the basic course modules, students have to specialize and choose between animal and plant production. That approach does not work in organic agriculture because of the close integration of plant and animals on farms that are based on ecological principles. It will be interesting to see which course of action they will take when the organic curriculum is completed.

A few years ago the College received EU grant money to translate and deliver the curriculum in English. The goal was to develop an organic farmer training program for international students based on the Danish model. They got the program off the ground a few years ago, however, a truly international mix of students never materialized. Currently, 90% of the international students in the program are from Poland and only few other nationalities are participating each year. According to the instructors, the lopsided ratio in favor of the polish block appears to make it difficult for students from other cultural background to fit in. There is, on the other hand, still an international feel at the school because on campus is also a community college that draws students from around the world. Most of the 50 community college and 50 agricultural college students live on campus and are mixed in the college dorms.

The agricultural education leads to either a “Farm Assistant” or a “Certified Skilled Farmer” degree. There is a good demand for graduates of both degrees on Danish farms and both are very well paid € 2,500 and € 3,000+, respectively. Students of both degrees start with some learning modules at the school, continue with a paid internship of up to 12 month on a Danish farm, return to the college again for some learning modules before finishing the degree with another paid internship on a farm within the European Union (including Denmark). The length of the learning modules and internships vary so that it takes usually about 24 months to finish the Farm Assistant and 27 months for the Certified Skilled Farmer.

You can watch this YouTube video for more details.

There is no college tuition because, as in most European countries, vocational and higher education is free. When you live at the school there is a monthly fee of about $ 570 for lodging, food, books and field trips. To keep the room and board cost so low, students are asked to help with kitchen and dorm chores. Spouses and kids can also live in the college dorms. The internships are well paid and you end up making almost $ 50,000 during your education.

The learning modules at the college cover a diversity of topics and I didn’t think that there were major gaps in the curriculum. The basic module covers botany, basic livestock husbandry, soils, workshop and machine skills as well as courses in economics, communication, computers, job seeking, and first aid. The main course modules include specific training in crop production, animal science, technology and finance.
I was not able to visit the college farm (because of my late arrival) or the fields (covered with a foot of snow). However, the photos of the farm look promising and seem to provide a great learning lab for the students. Most of the 125 ac farm lands are used for feed and pasture. There are also two and a half acres of organic vegetables, providing healthy, local food for the campus kitchen. The animals on the farm include dairy cows, some Icelandic horses as well as a few steer and sheep.

The Kalø program is unique but also has a number of elements that they have in common with programs I have visited in the past. With the program in Kleeve, Germany it shares the European traditions of a standardized curriculum and tuition free education. With some of the American programs it shares the community aspects of being on a farm and in school with a cohort of students for an extended period, participating together in both the social life and class room learning. It is unfortunate that the college has not been able to attract a diverse international group of students. This might be because they have not created a curriculum that is entirely devoted to organic farming. It is clear that the instructors are committed to organic ideas. However, potential applicants only have the college’s name (i.e. Organics Agricultural College) and a single course on the course list (i.e. “Sustainability in Farming”) to see the commitment to ecological farming principles. Larger issues (e.g. on-farm energy production, sustainability of food systems, etc.) seem not to be covered in the curriculum, at least not yet.

I want to thank Helge Buelow for organizing my stay as well as Morten Erbs and Claus-Ebbe Junker for spending time with me at the college.

PS: More impressions from Kalo in this slide show:

Ecological Agriculture School, Kleve

On a cold winter day a 5 o’clock morning train brought me from southwest Germany to Kleeve, a town which is far north and only 10 miles from the border to the Netherlands. I love riding the train so I didn’t mind the early ride. Kleeve is not a likely place for one of only two government funded Eco-Ag schools, but here was a farmer who had the idea and some dedicated faculty who made it work. The School of Ecological Agriculture in Kleeve offers a 2-year program for students who want to manage and organic farm. All students who are admitted to the program must already have a vocational degree in a green job (achieved with a three year apprenticeship) and a year of job experience after they received the degree. The goal of the degree is to give participants the education to become managers of an organic farm. There are about 30 students in the two years combined. The program first admitted students in 1996. Most of the students are 20-30 years old, about 50% from the state where the school is located and the other half from other states across Germany. Not many international students make their way to Kleeve, which maybe in part because of the language requirements and in part because of the perquisites of a finished vocational degree.

The school is funded by the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, which in Germany means that there is no tuition. There are some fees, about $2000 over the course of the two years. Parallel to the Eco-Ag school, there is also a (larger) program for conventional farm managers. Many classes are shared between the two programs. Also on site are an agricultural research station, an extension office, a conventional farm and an organic farm. The Eco-Ag students benefit greatly from this diversity of institutions. For example, several instructors have both teaching and extension responsibilities. I used to have a split extension, research and teaching appointment and know how this keeps an instructor always up-to date on emerging issues in agriculture.

There is a good diversity of classes offered with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and business management but also many aspects of animal and plant production are covered thoroughly. This program covers also many important topics that are neglected in many others I’ve visited so far. For example, there are courses in value-added food processing and alternative nutrition. I feel that those are vital topics for adapting an organic farm to an ever-changing consumer and business environment. Other interesting courses cover on-farm energy (such as biogas, biodiesel, etc.) and building (with topics such as farm building design and energy conservation). Yet another set of courses deal with leadership skills because students who finish this degree are officially certified to take on their own apprentices and interns.

If it were a standard organic farming program one would find some gaps in the curriculum topics. For example, there is no further training in machinery maintenance or shop skills. However, many students have covered these topics during their apprenticeship and it is assumed that students are proficient in those skills. On the other hand, I noticed that students also come from non-farm green jobs (including bee keeper or landscaper) and they may or may not have had an opportunity to practice things like welding or maintaining diesel engines.

To have two working farms on site is a great plus for this eco-ag program. Any issues that come up on the farm can be immediately observed and discussed. There are, however, several limitations in the way the institution is organized. Farm and school are completely separated. That means farm decisions are based not on the education needs of the students but on farm management and economics (and also on the need of the research station). Also, the farms are both focused on animal agriculture not offering any opportunities in vegetable and flower production. As animal farms (dairy cows) they are great enterprises, showing a closed circle of production where all feed is produced on the farm and all manure is used to either fertilize the fields of produce biogas. I also found it unfortunate that students are not required to do any regular work on the farm (but some choose to do so). It is again assumed that students have had the farm work experience from their apprenticeship and job experience.

Overall this was a great visit for me. The school offers some courses that I certainly would like to integrate into future LBCC programs (e.g. on-farm energy, nutrition etc.). The visit also showed me how beneficial it is for the students when instructors have experience in commercial production be it through extension appointments or being producers themselves. I greatly appreciate the time that the instructors Ralf Grigoleit and Christian Wucherpfennig spent in setting up my visit, discussing the program with me and showing me the farm and fields.

Dottenfelder Hof - Biodynamic Agricultural School

"We do not want to condition someone’s thinking nor accumulate knowledge, but help to develop the excitement of all human powers, so they can recognize their own imprinted biases, acquire knowledge about the world to grow personally, and to let them develop their individual strength and personalities" (my translation of a quote by by Alexander von Humboldt, German Naturalist, 1769-1859).

This quote is the introduction to the year-long training in biodynamic agriculture at the Landbauschule Dottenfelder Hof. I visited this school to see how a biodynamic education compares to a more standard eco-ag program and I wanted to learn specifically how they organize the one-year course and various one-month modules.

The school is in Bad Vilbel, just north of Frankfurt. It is on a working farm with 350 acres of land on which pasture, fodder crops, grains, vegetables, and pulse crops (legumes) are grown. 80 dairy cows, breeding and meat hogs, and chicken are also core part of the farm. The farm has first been officially documented over 1000 years ago. It used to be owned by a monastery and later became property of the state. In 1950 a group of 5 farm families leased the farm and started a communally owned business. Since then a bakery, a dairy, a café and a health food store were added to the farm. The direct marketing of high value farm products is key to the economic well being of the farm and school.

In 1968 the agricultural school was founded and 12 years later they bought the farm building and some land around it (while the fields are still leased from the state of Hessen). The school offers courses in biodynamic farming since 1974. Today there one-month long winter courses and a one-year course. The January course gives students a broad introduction to biodynamic farming and includes (besides the technical information of farming) also exercises in anthropsophical art, observation (phenomenology), and eurythmy. There are no prerequisites to participate in this course. The February course is an advanced course for students who want to deepen their understanding of biodynamic farming. It builds on the January course and focuses either on plant production (course I) or animal production (course II). The February course is for those who are seriously considering becoming biodynamic farmers. It is highly recommended that participants have worked in a green job for at least two years. Rudolf Steiner’s texts related to agriculture are also covered during the February courses. The February course gives participants a good opportunity to see how the year long course works. The 4 week-long winter courses cost € 800, which includes meals and accommodation.

The year long course is the core educational event at the agricultural school. Twelve to 15 students live on the farm and are immersed in biodynamic farming lectures, seminars, projects, field experiments and daily farm chores. Most students are from Germany but there were also a number of international students (this year from Oregon, Italy, Romania and Japan.) All instructions are in German and a solid foundation in this language is essential to get the full benefit of the education. It is possible to live at the farm a few months before the course starts and go to language school. Students are instructed by managers, researchers, artist and others who work permanently on the farm as well as staff from other farms, research institutes, universities and schools. As in the Advanced February course it is highly recommend that students have at least a 2 year education in agriculture or related field before they start the one-year course. The cost of the course is € 8400 (€ 700 per month) which includes meals and accommodation (small dorm rooms).

In addition to the courses taught by the school, the farm also offers various internship and apprenticeship opportunities during which biodynamic farming is taught. Apprentices are either part of the regular 3-year government licensed general agriculture apprenticeship program (which is what I participated in before my academic studies) or they participate in a 4-year biodynamic apprenticeship. They may also be interns (of variable length of time) or conducting an ecological service year (instead of the mandatory army or civil service).

The diversity of learners and enterprises at the Dottenfelderhof makes farm and school management a real challenging task but it seem to be a real plus for the education. While apprentices and students usually focus on a particular aspect of farming (e.g. dairy management, vegetable crop production, etc.) there are chances to switch and look into other areas of farm production. Some of the students feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the tasks and opportunities. I talked to some who mentioned that not even the year-long course is sufficient time to get a good handle on biodynamic farm management. That in part is due to the fact that a portion of the time is spent on non-technical issues (e.g. art, astrology, philosophy, human health and nutrition, etc.). After visiting Emerson College and this farm school I am starting to believe that offering a little less technical information but including more opportunities to gain awareness of your social and physical environment as well as to learn about yourself might be a good trade-off in the education of the future producers of our food.

Biodynamic Agricultural College, Forest Row, UK

My second visit in England was to Emerson College in Forest Row, about an hour south of London. Emerson College is a school that is based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. The Waldorf Schools and Biodynamic Farming follow this philosophy. It was a beautiful, mild (and dry !!!!) November day when I visited the campus. Unfortunately, Emerson College is not the lively center of anthropological teaching with 200 students from around the world that it used to be. The college got into financial trouble last year and had to close its door to the regular day-to-day operations and its future is not entirely clear. Only a few full-time and some part time programs now use the facilities and operate independently. Much to the organic/biodynamic agriculture community’s delight, the agricultural training program is one of those programs.

The Biodynamic Agricultural College (BDA college) has its own teaching facility, the Rachel Carson Center. Currently 32 domestic and international students are in either the agriculture or horticulture program. The training is 1.5 years. It starts in September and goes through March in the first year. Then students are placed on a farm (most biodynamic, some organic) for 5 months and then return in September of year 2 for another 23 week college training period until March after which the training is completed. The tuition for this training ($4500-7500 per year) is a little higher than the programs I visited in the United States but also offers different training subjects .

BDA college students mostly live in dorms on campus and are in involved in food preparation and custodial work. There training at the college occurs in six areas of work and study: agriculture, science, arts, economics, skills, and philosophy. They receive a foundation in soils science, plant and animal biology and regular agricultural practices mostly through courses that are taught in partnership with Plumton College/Brighton University. During their biodynamic training, they learn to experience the living formative forces in the agricultural system. They also receive specific training in homeopathy in animals. In addition, students receive training in the arts, movement (eurythmy), and observation of the natural world (plant and animal phenomenology). Students create a portfolio of evidence as a record of progress.

The training is supported by a 5 acre vegetable crop production garden, a flower garden and 2 farms (450 ac and 200 ac) on which meat animals (pigs, sheep, broilers, cattle), dairy cows, grain and pasture are raised. Farms are separate/independent businesses from the college and owned by a community of 550 members. The farm provides the lab/work area for the students. Each afternoon from 2 to 4 students are in the gardens or on the farms to gain practical skills. The village of Forest Row appears very supportive of the organic/biodynamic college. The farms run farm stores where meat, dairy, produce and flowers are sold.

It is unfortunate that Emerson College is not operating for now. That takes away some of the support, appeal and the energy of the program. Another downside in my opinion is the fact that students are not in the college training program for the entire growing season (April-September). It seems students could benefit from some structured time during the summer. Also, while it was good that the farms were independent from the college when Emerson got into financial trouble, I feel that a true BDA College farm would allow students to learn much more about farm management, crop planning and marketing.

A great feature of biodynamic farming is the integration of soils, crops, animals and humans in a whole farm system. While other organic or ecological farming training programs try hard to include some of this integration, it is obvious that it comes much more natural in a specifically biodynamic training. To me it is also wonderful to see the integration of philosophy, arts, movement and crafts (e.g. greenwood craft) into an agricultural training.

During my visit I gave a 2 hour lecture on LBCC’s effort in sustainability and my impressions of the US training programs I visited so far. The students appeared to enjoy the presentation and the discussion. They also gave me some good ideas on how to design a sustainable food systems program at LBCC. I am grateful to

Arjen Huesse, Juergen Schuhmacher, Nir Halfon, and Deborah Watts for setting up my visit and meeting with me.

Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm, Hamstead Marshall, UK

On my first visits in Europe I went to England. My family went with me and we spent a long weekend in London and had a great time visiting the usual tourist attractions such as The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Madam Tousseau, Buckingham Palace etc. On November 2^nd I went to the Organic Research Centre (ORC) near Newbury (West-Central UK). The drive through the countryside was beautiful but driving on the left side on the narrow rural roads was an ... adventure. Green, animal-grazed pastures lined by miles and miles of hedgerows dominate the landscape in this part of the UK.

At ORC I visited with Nic Lampkin and his colleagues. Many years ago Nic wrote the only comprehensive text book in organic farming. ORC has five main areas of interest: research – training/demonstrations – consultancy/advice – schools/ colleges – community initiatives. As the center name implies, the focus is on research. Institutional and staff changes during the last 18 months further solidified this emphasis. I was somewhat disappointed that the grower training, school and community initiatives did not receive more attention. However, the ORC researchers I met gave me a good overview of the highlights in European organic farming research. In England in particular, there is a lot of research emphasis on integrated crops/animal enterprises since most organic farms here raise both field crops and livestock.

ORC used to have several advisors (similar to US extension) on staff who helped growers answer specifically organic Ag questions. However, this service is now greatly diminished when the advisors became self employed (or had to change jobs) after the government almost banned any outside farm visits for fear of spreading Foot & Mouth and BSE (Mad Cow) diseases. Since then, ORC still has a government contract to help growers transition from conventional to organic but there is a good chance that this transition program is getting scrapped in the next weeks as the government is trying to get the soaring national debt under control.

ORC is part of a transatlantic study partnership with the College of the Atlantic (see September blog reports) and the University of Kassel, Germany (where I will visit in a few weeks).It is not clear if this partnership will continue. ORC researchers gave me many contacts across Europe, especially in Germany (two of the researchers at the center were Germans). I had not kept up with the developments there in the last 15 years, thus it was great to find out which of the programs are worthwhile for me to visit in the next months.

ORC staff is teaching some modules in eco-ag distance education programs in Scotland and Spain. My understanding is that students in those programs meet with instructors during one weekend per month only, otherwise the teaching is online. Individual modules are taught by various experts in their respective fields. I am planning to contact some of these distance education course leaders to see what we can learn from them for our teaching at LBCC.

After my conversations with the Centre staff I had to clear my head a bit and went on the 2 mile farm education trail. They had some nice displays about the ecology of the farm and region as well as the day to day work on a livestock farm.

Many thanks to Nic Lampkin, Susanne Paddel and Thomas Doering for their time and insights.

The Farm School, Athol, MA

“Being kind to one another is the only real rule here “said Ben Holmes, founder of the Farm School. The Farm School is a non-academic apprentice program similar to the one I visited in September at UC Santa Cruz, located near the town of Athol in Northern Massachusetts about 1.5 hours from Boston. Initially the goal was to develop a program for school kids. The program for visiting schools is still the core enterprise of the farm school. Every year 2000 kids stay for 2-3 days and experience the rich texture of farming. About 8 years ago, the farm school started the Learn to Farm apprenticeship program for adults. In their own words they “are still figuring things out” but it seemed to me a very well put together program.

Thirteen apprentices stay a full year (11.5 months) starting every year on October 1^st. Half of this year’s cohort was from New England, while the others were from all across the United States. I didn’t notice international students and ages varied between 20 and 40. I learned that students from 18-70 have participated in the program over the years. The apprentices live in the main farm building in small single rooms, they eat meals together in a community room, and share custodial and kitchen chores. The tuition is $ 12.000 for the entire year which includes room and board.

Any day at the farm school starts with circle time at 7 AM and then again at 1:30 PM. During this time, the apprentices learn about the task at hand and they can share anything that is important to them. The afternoon I visited, the apprentices were split into a group that learned tractor skills and another practicing wood working. It appears that starting the apprenticeship in October, allowing the students to learn various skills in the fall and winter and be part of the crop and animal production planning, is a great way for building confidence and ownership in the farm success before the hectic growing season starts in the spring.

The program started as a homesteading program and those roots are still evident in the curriculum (draft horse training, basic carpentry, etc.). With the national success of small scale farming and better opportunities of direct marketing in the last 10 years the program evolved into one that teaches students to become commercial growers. The students run a 160 share CSA selling produce to CSA members in the Boston area. The sales from the CSA, other farm sales and tuition cover 60% of the total cost of the program. The remaining 40% of funds are raised with an annual campaign and an annual fundraising event. Almost all donations come from individuals and many of those that are contributing have as kids gone through the program for visiting schools.

Apprentices learn farming on Maggie’s farm, a 200 ac farm with 12 acres of cultivated ground and the remainder under woodlot management. Vegetables are grown on beds and do not receive irrigation. The deep clayey soil hold moisture throughout the year. On the farm are various barns and buildings, used as repair shop, packing shed, hay storage, community building, a middle school and animal shelter. Animals on the farm include a herd of beef cattle, sheep, pigs, layers and meat chicken, and draft horses.

One of the things I really liked about this program is the fact that they developed an extensive skills list which defines the educational experience of the apprentices. Mechanical field management is one of the skills and this is the first program I visited where students were instructed in tractor and tractor drawn equipment handling. In my mind it is also very valuable that students go through an entire year to really experience the real world of farming. Another plus is the opportunity for apprentices to delve deeper into a particular subject. One afternoon per week each apprentice can work on an individually defined area of interest such as cheese making, advanced draft horse training, etc. Apprentices interested in agricultural education can rotate into the kids programs at the school.

The staff at the Farm School estimate that 80% or more of the apprentices go into agriculture related jobs and at least 50% of participants so far are involved in agricultural production. Those are impressive numbers; they speak to the quality of the program.

Thank you to Patrick and Ben for showing me around and their kind support of my exploration of farmer training programs.

Sterling College - Sustainable Agriculture

Sterling College is a small progressive college in Craftsbury in Northern Vermont with a strong emphasis on experiential learning. The college is a work college, meaning that students live on campus and have many chores in the daily maintenance and administration of the college. The 80 hours of chores per semester are mostly spend in the kitchen, custodial and on the farm.

The roughly 100 students are in one of three fields of study: outdoor leadership and education, conservation ecology and sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture has enjoyed a healthy growth and is now the strongest major in terms of student numbers. Any student graduating from the Sterling sustainable ag program needs to show competency in vegetable production, livestock management, woodlot management and draft horse handling. However, to accommodate divergent interest/student cultures and to create more depth in a field of interes, students now have to choose either an animal, crop or food systems track.

A garden/field area and an animal farm provide learning opportunities for students and fresh, local food for the college kitchen. The number and type of animals on the farm depend on student educational and food needs but at the time of my visit included draft horses, heifers, ducks, chicken, goats, pigs, rabbits, and turkeys. I saw goats used for weed management, pigs tilling the soil, turkeys and rabbits contributing to soil fertility, and chicken used for meats and eggs. I was also able to briefly attend a basic draft horse training lab. Draft horses play an important role in small wood lot management (and most New England farms have woodlots). They also are used in quiet a few small scale sustainable crop production operations.

Vegetable and other plant production is practiced in a small hand-cultivated area (1/4 ac) which has a few greens but over the years has been being transformed more and more into a perennial forest garden planted with various shrubs and trees. Another two acres of field area are horse-cultivated and planted with various crops such as leeks, greens and brassicas. Rotational grazing turkeys and rabbits in movable houses were providing necessary weed control and soil fertility after crop harvest on those fields. Two unheated greenhouses provide some opportunity for year-round crop production, but in climate zone 3 only the soil in the very center of the greenhouse stays unfrozen during the winter months.. To gain experience in direct marketing, garden students operate a 12 member CSA for Sterling College staff.

The kitchen plays on integral part in fulfilling the college’s sustainability mission. 15 years ago began a transition from a traditional college diet and commercial supply of food to a situation without soda/juice machines and 3 healthy, local meals daily for students and staff. For the reduced number of students and staff in the summer, 90% of the produce needs are from the college garden, during the remainder of academic year it is somewhere in 20-30% range. The other food comes from local distributors who sell local foods. Many students work in the kitchen as part of the work chores anyway but soon, some will gain a much deeper understanding of the food system. The college just hired a new kitchen manager, who will also develop a sustainable food systems curriculum. She brings a wealth of experience from her food systems studies at Tuffs University and her previous job where she connected growers and restaurant owners.

The sustainable agriculture program at Sterling College has numerous strengths. Topping my list are the focus on hands on learning; the integration of crop-animal-wood lot-, and soon the new, food systems curriculum; the year-round course offerings (2 short summer semesters), dedicated faculty and the location. Sterling College is situated in a regional hotspot for the local food movement. There are many small sustainable farms that market directly to consumers; there are several local food processors in immediate vicinity (tofu factory, local cheese makers, etc.); and related organizations such Center of Agricultural Economy, and the High Fields Center of Composting . Even a book has been written about the local food movement in the town of Hardwick (just few miles down the road from Sterling College): The Town that Food Saved – How one community found Vitality in Local Food.

Just like any other program, this one also has some weaknesses. The first one regarding college life is the small number of students. With only 100 students, most of them of a similar young age group and same ethnicity there is little exposure to different viewpoints and ways of doing things. On a curriculum level, I feel that the students could benefit from a stronger grounding in business and entrepreneurship, especially if they would go into farm production. Maybe another weakness is the limited capital resources that the college has to invest in up-to-date equipment and buildings (on the other hand this situation mirrors what most small farmers would find for themselves when starting a business).

I am grateful to Allison, Ann, Brandon, Corie and Charlotte who met with me to make this a great visit.

College of the Atlantic - Sustainable Food Systems

First stop on my New England trip was the Sustainable Food Systems program at the College of the Atlantic. On a sunny, crisp, full fall color day I met with Molly Anderson on this beautiful campus in Bar Harbor Maine. Bar Harbor is on Mt Desert Island surrounded by Acadia National Park. The campus is located right on the coast with great views into Frenchman Bay. The campus is relatively small for a 4 year institution and has a mix of old and new buildings. The college has a strong environmental commitment evident by the building design, waste management and campus food purchases.

According to COA’s website “small classes (average size is 12 students) emphasize engaged, interdisciplinary learning. Many classes are project-based, hands-on and are taught in a seminar format.” Students have only one option for a major, which is “human ecology”. However they can take different tracks within this major, one of which is sustainable food systems.

Academically, students in this track take classes about growing food such as agroecology and organic gardening. The bulk of classes, however, are about the social, cultural, political, ecological and economic factors of our food system. A key course is called “Our daily Bread: Following Grains through the Food System”. During this course students spend a month studying grains, bread making and food quality in the UK and Germany. This travel is part of COA’s transatlantic partnership and 65% of all COA students study abroad as part of their academic program.

Students in the sustainable food systems program get their practical food growing experience on Beech Hill Farm (BHF), a commercial vegetable farm that was donated to the College by a former COA graduate. BHF is 73 ac farm, 12 of which are cultivated with 5 acres in annual crop production. They grow all types of vegetables there but do not have any animal production. Greenhouses allow them year-round production (3 crops per year), roughly following some of famous organic producer /author Elliot Coleman’s advice and crop sequences Elliot’sFour Season Farm is only 30 miles away. BFT is staffed with one production manager, one business managers, 12-15 work study students during school time and 6-7 summer farm crew. Spring, summer and fall work crews They sell produce wholesale to COA and various high-end restaurants and retail through a 25 member CSA and a farm stand that also features other locally produced, value added products. The wholesale prices they charge are significantly above Sysco or other national wholesale chain prices. Beech Hill Farm also composts the food wastes from the COA campus and serves as a showcase for small windmill and solar energy production.

Overall I felt like this program is best suited for students who will be advocates for local food and sustainable food production. For it to be a place to become a farm manager, it is lacking some of the background academics in biology and ecological crop and pest management as well as the entrepreneurial foundation courses. That said, highly motivated students who are very active for multiple semesters at Beech Hill Farm can acquire the necessary skills to eventually run a farm. The program is not isolated to production Ag through its business style run Beech Hill Farm and its connections to organizations such as the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener Association - MOFGA . One of the issues for the program is the 12 mile distance to the farm. That makes logistics both for teaching and for student workers difficult. A great opportunity is on the horizon as the College just recently received a gift of another farm, involving 120 acres of pastureland and various farm buildings. This farm could be developed into a showcase of sustainable animal production and education in Maine.

Thanks to Molly and Alisha for showing me around and explaining the program to me.

Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC

After my visit at Central Carolina Community College, I went to the Center of Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro (CEFS), North Carolina. According to their website "CEFS is dedicated to sustainable agriculture research, extension and education. Goals are to provide new economic opportunities in rural and urban communities, develop technologies that promote a cleaner and healthier environment, educate the next generation of farmers, consumers, and scientists, and engage all citizens in the food system". The place itself is a huge area of land dived into various focus areas such as sustainable crop production, small farms, agroforestry, sustainable animal production. I toured all of these areas but focused most closely on the organically managed small farm unit.

I was very interested in how the Center runs farming education programs. They offers a 8 week internship program for college credit not students from around the country. Each intern is paired with a mentor faculty in the focus area that the intern is most interested (i.e. community food systems, organic crop production, etc. ). The internship is meant to be an introduction to research and understanding of agricultural systems. The interns move around to various areas, which gives them a great overview of the whole agricultural system. At the same time they are only a few days at each unit, leaving little time for real training and sometimes leaving them with work that trained employee do not want to do.

The small farms unit also runs an apprenticeship program. Four apprentices work closely with a the farm manager, Steve Moore, from February though November operating a 35 acre farm. Steve is a very experienced farmer. Most of the farm is in perennial forages, producing feed for a few steers. About 1.5 acres is in annual crop production. In addition they have some berries and agroforesty trees. A heated greenhouse provides a propagation space and unheated hoop houses offer the opportunity for season extension. The heat for the propagation house is created with solar hot water tubes. The hoop houses are built on a metal sled. The produce from the farm is donated to a near by hospital unit for the mentally disabled. Unfortunately the patients do not work on the farm anymore. In my own apprenticeship on the Aspichhof in in Germany about 25 years ago, I had the opportunity to work with mentally disabled patients, which was a wonderful educational experience. According to one apprentice at CEFS, the apprenticeship is better suited for someone who will be involved in education in some form later on (Peace Corps, Extension, School Gardens, etc. ) and not someone wanting to start a commercially sustainable farming operation.

After my farm visit I had a chance to visit with colleagues back in Raleight, where NC State University is located. Tes Thraves is a project leader in community based food systems and she gave me many good contacts in this field. We also talked about incubator programs. Incubator programs allow a transition time between farm education and commercial farming. State or county owned farm land is managed by beginner farmers and a farm manager serves a mentor and equipment is shared. After I spoke with Tes I had a chance to meet with Nancy Creamer, director of CEFS and distinguished professor of sustainable agriculture and community food systems and Chris Reberg-Horton an extension professor I used to work during my employment at the University of New Hampshire. I also met my Oregon colleague and friend Alex Stone, organic vegetable specialist from Oregon State University. We rarely have time to visit with each other in Corvallis, so a meeting in Raleigh, NC was kind of strange but a nice opportunity to catch up.

Sustainable Technologies at Central Carolina Community College

In addition to the sustainable Ag at CCCC, I also visited the sustainable technologies program. Students choose from currently two, and in the future from three, tracks: Alternative Energy , Green Building, and Biofuels. The biofuel is currently its own degree program but will become a track. The programs are housed in a LEED certified building. Unfortunately, the faculty had almost no input in the design of the building. It still turned out well and includes a green roof, solar hot water, radiant heat, chilled water HVAC, natural light optimized classrooms and a most impressive gray water recycling system. The water recycling system saves the college 100,000 gal each month and will be used for outdoor irrigation, indoor cooling, and toilet flushing. Unfortunately the green roof died in the extreme heat this summer (60 consecutive days over 95 F) and has to be replanted. The radiant heat in the concrete floor is only installed on the north side of the building while the south is just heated with passive solar. The natural light capture allows teaching without any additional light during the day. Various LCD monitors show energy and water use for different time intervals.

The technical courses of the sustainable technology program fill quickly without much marketing. They focus on weatherization, zero energy houses, residential photovoltaic and geothermal . Students also take several courses on the general concepts of sustainability.

I was very interested in the biofuel progam because LBCC Mechatronics and Ag/Horticulture are currently developing a biofuels program. CCCC biofuels has a great lab space and has $400.000 worth of various pieces of equipment. The main instructor, Bob Armantrout, felt that some of that equipment is not necessarily the best for teaching. What really is needed are small parts (such as pumps, gauges, etc.) that students can use to built larger. Bob used to manage a biofuel plant and has a wealth of real world experience. He focuses his program on biodiesel and appropriate scale technology. His view is similar to mine in that biofuels, and biodiesel in particular, can make a lot of sense if inputs such as feedstock and labor can be sourced locally and support the local communities.

The visit to the sustainable technologies program gave me a lot of insights into the development of a LBCC biofuels program. We know that we want we want to cover more than just biodiesel. We also decided that a stand alone program may not be viable and both Mechatronics and Agriculture will develop tracks within their programs. Also hearing what equipment is necessary for teaching was extremely valuable and can save the college hundreds of thousands of dollars. After hearing how little the CCCC faculty was able to be part of the teaching/lab building design process I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to be part of a multi-year planning team for the new LBCC Science and Ag/Math buildings.

Sustainable Agriculture at Central Carolina Community College

My first trip on the East Coast brought me to North Carolina. The soils, crops and wildlife here are very different compared to Oregon and the West Coast in general. Soybeans, sweet potatoes, okra grow on a red sandy clay. I visited the sustainable agriculture program at Central Carolina Community College. Conceived by a local farmer about 10 years ago, this program is now probably the best community college small farm education program in the country. They offer an impressive set of hands-on courses for those who would like to get into small scale, organic, direct- marketing farming. The program has a strong entrepreneurial focus , which is so essential in this industry. Much of the teaching happens on the college farm, right next to the classroom buildings. On the farm are several structures built by the students in the farm buildings course. There are also bee hives, movable greenhouses, pollinator gardens and chicken "tractors". The chickens are pasture raised. No other animals are currently on the farm.

Labs in classes such as organic farming are taught by the farm manager and one or two faculty. Field labs have a maximum 18 students taught by 2-3 instructors. Over 80% of the students in the program already have a 4 year degree some of them also have a Masters. Two thirds of the students go through a 1 year (2 semester) certificate program while about one third finishes with 2 year Associate degree. Students are required to complete a 160 hour work experience in the summer.

The strengths of the program are the support from the college administration, the selection of classes, the focus on entrepreneurship, the staff (including a fulltime faculty, full time farm manager and a half time CSA manager), and the interactions with the other tracks in the sustainable technology programs (sustainable technologies, green building, biofuel). A continuing eduction program called the "Natural Chef" provides some potential for future collaboration.

Weaknesses in the program include the crowed farm space and the fact that the 30 member all campus CSA is the only opportunity to get real world marketing experience. The farm space issue should soon be resolved because a sustainable farm center is being build soon. It will serve as a program welcome center and include a produce packing/washing area, propagation greenhouse, and walk-in cooler. The building will be a zero energy facility, designed and build by students and faculty from the sustainable technologies program.

I can see developing a similar program at LBCC. I feel that there are many post bac students at OSU and from other PNW University looking for a hands-on program such as this. In the near future is is clear that we need at least expand to a fall and spring organic farming course and farm marketing and farm management classes that are designed for small scale, direct marketing farming.

Evergreen College - CELL

Over the past few days I visited the Center of Ecological Living and Learning (CELL) on the Campus of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. The main campus of the college features many elements of green building, including LEED certified lecture and lab halls, an extensive recycling program, green roofs, native gardens and rainwater harvesting. The CELL Center is located away from the campus on the Evergreen Organic Farm and includes the production fields, orchards, the compost center, community gardens, a permaculture garden, a biodiesel shed, and a farm house. The farm area totals 5 acre: one acre in cultivated fields of annual vegetable, one acre in pasture, one acre in fruits and nuts. The remainder consists of various structures such as two large (90x30) and 3 smaller hoop houses for vegetable production as well as one heated and one unheated propagation greenhouse. The farm is run by a farm manager supported by several student farm aides as well as the faculty who is teaching the Practices in Sustainable Agriculture (PSA) Program.

The PSA program is where each of three quarters 25 students are trained in small scale, market farming. Besides the field production aspects students are instructed in farm planning and management, food preservation (canning and pickling), and marketing. For marketing students run a 23 member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and a farm stand twice a week from April through October. Students can self select to be more involved in one of four areas: annual vegetables, fruits and nuts, permaculture perennials, or animals. The farm currently has layer eggs and layer ducks but broilers and pigs have been there in the past.

Besides PSA there are other academic programs making use of the farm, namely “Ecological Agriculture” and the “Food-Health-Sustainability" program. Having watched these agriculture programs at Evergreen for the last 20 years it seems that there is a strong move toward exploring the connections between food production, human nutrition, and the natural and social environment.

The strength of the agriculture programs at Evergreen lies in the fact that students can learn on the farm from spring through summer and fall. The students receive plenty of hand-on training in crop and animal production as well as marketing, farm planning and food preservation. At the same time there are many opportunities to explore the scientific, historical and social underpinnings of contemporary agriculture. All of this is supported by first rate faculty and farm staff. Another strength is the diversity of structures on the farm, including a farm classroom and kitchen, a heated greenhouse, a walk in cooler, and in the very near future a lab building with food grade labs equipment.

A weaknesses of agriculture at Evergreen is that until now there has not been a dedicated faculty for the farm training program which meant that farm operations and management are continuously changing, creating at times a chaotic work environment. The lack of adequate farm, and specifically tillage machinery, also is a limitation and a stress for soil quality. Finally the lack of control over several farm areas (which operate under student activities groups) severely limits the ability of the farm management to create a comprehensive plan for the entire Center of Ecological Living and Learning.

Based on my visit at Evergreen, I can see a number of changes in the near future for the LBCC Hort Program. We need a year round (including summer) program if we are going to teach students how to farm. We also need to strengthen the farm planning and marketing aspect. I also feel encouraged to keep pursuing a closer connection with LBCC’s Culinary Arts program to create an understanding in students for the entire food system and the connections between production, personal health and environmental sustainability.

I am very grateful for the stimulating exchanges of ideas I had with farm managers Melissa Barker and Stephen Bramwell as well as faculty Martha Rosemeyer, Steve Scheurell, David Muhleisen and my friend and Dean Paul Przybylowicz.

Horticulture at Cabrillo College

During my trip to the Santa Cruz area I visited the Horticulture Program at Cabrillo College and met with the Program Chair Peter Shaw. Since Peter was still teaching when I arrived I toured the facilities by myself and was just blown away. Horticulture has its own little kingdom on the upper campus overlooking the Monterrey Bay. The first building I encountered was the Environmental Horticulture Center Community Building which "houses a spacious lobby, community room, lecture classroom, faculty offices, a learning center/library and site of the future garden store." For hands-on teaching they have a Nursery center with state-of-the-art greenhouses, shade structures, hoop houses and a number of gardens. In the greenhouses I found various plant collections, which I later learned are some of the best in the world. Four beautifully designed botanic gardens are around the community and the nursery centers.

The program is also well staffed. Several full time and part time faculty supported by 2 teaching assistants, a nursery and garden curator and 8 student assistant teach about 150-200 individual students who take horticulture, crops and soils classes each semester. The program is financially well supported by the college but in addition to a normal operating budget they also have number of fundraising activities, which allows them to maintain and expand the facilities and create new learning opportunities.

Their Mother's day plant sale is a 3-day event grossing over $110,000!!!! (LBCC's is a $2000 event). A smaller poinsettia sale on Christmas gives them another few thousand dollars in their operating budget. They also run community lecture series each semester charging $40 for five lectures. This semester's topic is "Permaculture Design for Suburban Landscapes". In addition, they support their program with produce sale from their newly installed, organically certified market garden. Produce is sold to the college food service at whole sale prices but more profitably to a delicatessen store and at their own garden store. Soon community members and college staff will be able to check online what they have for sale.

This was quiet an amazing visit and I came back with many ideas I will implement over time at LBCC. In the short term, I can certainly see starting a volunteer program and a lecture series. I also feel that we could expand our produce sale to the community and run a larger plant sale once we have more greenhouse space.

I am looking forward to my next trip to the Ecological Agriculture Program and the Center for Ecological Living and Learning at Evergreen College.

LifeLab - UC Santa Cruz

I have long been interested in training K-12 teachers in sustainable food production and continue to serve as an adviser for the "Planting Seeds of Change" program at the Seven Oak Middle School in Lebanon, OR. It was therefor great to visit the LifeLab at UC Santa Cruz. It is a wonderful place and dedicated staff there have created the premier organization for outdoor science teacher training. They primarily work "directly with teachers to help them use school gardens and hands-on science programs effectively."

I met with the Executive Director, Gail Harlamoff, who showed me around the place and patiently answered my questions. LifeLab started over 30 years ago with a few elementary school teachers in Santa Cruz who believed in the value of school gardens. They pulled together some resources and started consulting and from there it just snowballed. Since then they were able to secure millions of grant dollars from the NSF and various foundations, train thousands of educators and enrich many, many children's education and lives. A grant from the Packard foundation allowed them to build the current LifeLab, housed on the UC Santa Cruz Campus. The experiential garden area is the cutest place I have seen in along time.

Gail and I talked much about how we can improve "food literacy". We shared stories about how food system illiterate many agriculture and culinary arts college students are and what could be done to improve that. That is of special importance to me as I am trying to connect my college's horticulture and culinary arts programs. LifeLab offers a garden-enhanced nutrition eduction program called "Plant it, Grow it, Eat it". It would be huge step if ag and culinary students could take or if I could duplicate it at LBCC. We talked about other ideas such as asking culinary students to create meals from what is available in a market garden at a particular time of the year.

Another program we talked about at length is called "Food What?" according to their website "a youth empowerment program using food, through sustainable agriculture and health, as the vehicle for bringing about personal growth and transformation.a program for teens". I was impressed with the gardens the teens managed and the stories Gail shared.

This was another great visit which will help me form my ideas for the educational experience I want to create.

CASFS - UC Santa Cruz

My first day on my first visit - it was awesome. The campus setting is just amazing - a huge area of wide open grass land savanna, conifer forests, and oak woodlands high above the Monterey Bay (click here for a video tour) . The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) I visited is a 25 acre site on the lower campus (pictured above). Ten acres are under cultivation, 5 acres in annual row crops and 5 in fruit trees and other perennial crops. The farm and gardens of the center are used as a training area for undergraduate and graduate students, for teachers, and for new farmers. On this first day I was mostly interested in learning about the apprenticeship program in Ecological Horticulture which provides "training in the concepts and practices of organic gardening and small-scale farming." I went on tour with Jonathon Landeck, Assistant Director of the Center.

The apprenticeship program is a significant part of the Center's activities and has a total operating budget of over $700.000. Half of the budget comes from the tuition and sales and the other half has to be raised by the center staff from foundations and other donors. This effort allows the center to train 35-40 apprentices during a 6 month intensive training program. They receive usually more than 200 applications for those few spots. Serving as instructors and supervisors during 700 hours in the field are 2 farm managers, 3 site managers and 7 student mentors. 300 hours of formal education is done in part by the center staff but mostly by outside experts. The apprentices and farm staff run a CSA (community supported agriculture) program with 130 community members and they also have a roadside stand where they learn to sell produce and interact with customers.

It is clear that to pull something like this apprenticeship program off at LBCC we would need a lot of collaboration with other institutions and organizations. Our model might be different though and we may start small and see how it develops.

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow's visit of the LifeLab, an organization that helps schools develop learning gardens. I will also look at the Horticulture Program at Cabrillo College.