A Community Farm for Stanford
This proposal, the genesis of the Stanford Community Farm, was written by Brian Halweil in the fall of 1996. It details the philosophy, mission, and purpose of the Farm.
“Education, cultivated thought, can best be combined with agricultural labor, on the principle of thorough work, and thorough work again renders sufficient the smallest quantity of ground to each man, and this again conforms to what must occur in a world less inclined to war, and more devoted to the arts of peace, than heretofore.” - Abraham Lincoln
“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” - Gandhi
“Farming is the production of peanuts from the land; agriculture is the production of peanut butter from petroleum.” - Robert Lewontin
Over 100 years ago, a farm was converted into Stanford University. Since then all but a trivial amount of the University’s land have been taken out of food production. Over the same period, the University has all but eliminated the study of agriculture and practice of farming from its curriculum. Without too much trouble, one can find an economics class which examines agricultural economics or a political science class on agricultural policy or an engineering class on soil science or a biology class on plant genetics. Yet, one would be hard-pressed to find a class on farming techniques or horticulture or soil preparation or how to grow one’s own food. In an effort to provide students with an environment in which they can learn, study and practice farming techniques involved in small-scale food production, I propose the founding of the Stanford Student Farm.
On a deeper level, the farm will serve as an environment in which students could develop an ecological conscientiousness. Modern agricultural practices are at the root of many of the world’s most pressing and far-reaching environmental problems, including deforestation, desertification, soil erosion, water and air pollution, ozone depletion and global climate change. The farm will provide students with an environment in which to discuss the ecological, socio-economic, political, cultural and spiritual ramifications of different agricultural systems. Furthermore, the student farm will be devoted to practicing, demonstrating and refining sustainable and organic farming techniques. The farm will minimize external inputs of agricultural amendments (such as organic fertilizers), by recycling nutrients and producing its own compost. The farm will avoid the use of toxic chemicals for pest and disease prevention by using agroecological techniques such as Integrated Pest Management and crop rotation. The farm will promote soil conservation, utilizing techniques which prevent erosion and build topsoil. The farm will demonstrate water conservation (in a region of the nation which is perennially susceptible to drought) by building soil structure and minimizing water use. In summary, the farm will serve as a model of alternative food production methods which are at the same time environmentally benign (or environmentally beneficial) and high-yielding.
Currently, there are three student-run gardens at Stanford (the Columbae, Synergy and Chi Theta Chi gardens). These gardens are worked almost exclusively by residents of these three campus Co-op’s. In addition, there are a few other gardens or growing areas on campus at which students can work, including the experimental plots maintained by the Carnegie Institute for Plant Research and the Biology Department. Unless a student chooses to obtain housing or land off-campus, there are few opportunities afforded for practicing the art of food production on any scale. Most major universities in California have student farms, run by students, for students (this includes all of the UC and CS schools). From personal experiences, I know that these farms provide indispensable sources of pleasure for students and other members of the university community. When one considers the national and global prowess of California agriculture it seems odd that there would be a California university which would not at least provide students with some land on which to grow food.
In modern times, the study of agriculture has been isolated in research institutions and further isolated in technical disciplines with the overriding goal of increasing productivity. As a result, the study of agriculture (what is now known as the agricultural sciences) has been separated from its community, cultural and ecological context. On the other hand, a Stanford student farm would enjoy the unique situation of being accessible to students with diverse academic interests and backgrounds (in both technical and non-technical disciplines). With a more holistic foundation, students may learn “to see farming not as a production problem to be fixed, but as a more complex activity, at once cultural, ethical, ecological and political.”2 There is an abundance of agricultural professionals and a dearth of people who understand farming in its larger social and environmental context. Along these same lines, Aldo Leopold feels that “the goal of liberal education is not merely a dilute dosage of technical education, but rather to teach the student to see the land, to understand what he sees, and enjoy what he understands.”3 Finally, the student farm will help to remedy “the debilitating separation of abstract intellect and practical intelligence” found at many modern universities.4 Year round, agencies such as WWOF and the Land Institute (organizations which help arrange student internships on farms) are bombarded with hopeful inquiries from students (attending highly-regarded universities such as Stanford) who are deficient in practical experiences and yearn to learn out of doors. Students need an on-campus alternative. Several short-term and long-term benefits of a student farm will include, but will not be limited to the following:
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A student farm at Stanford would provide essential and wonderful experiences which are rarely available to students from predominantly urban and non-agricultural backgrounds.
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A student farm at Stanford would potentially serve as a multidisciplinary laboratory for the study of agroforestry, animal husbandry, botany, business operations, ecology, entomology, land restoration, landscape design, philosophy, rural sociology, soil science, solar technology, sustainable agriculture and zoology.5
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In addition to serving as an educational tool and providing an outlet for desires to work the earth, a student farm at Stanford would function as a community outreach tool to work in conjunction with such Stanford organizations as SHAC and SEAS and such non-university organizations as Second Harvest Food Bank, the Palo Alto community farm and the East Palo Alto community farm.
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A Stanford student farm would be used to preserve biological diversity in constant jeopardy of being paved over.
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A Stanford student farm would reduce carbon emissions involved in fossil fuel burning by sequestering carbon through agroforestry (tree cropping).
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A student farm at Stanford would provide campus food service, self-ops and co-ops with a local vendor of fresh, organic produce (This is done successfully on many campuses throughout the nation which provide students with a food co-op). Additionally, a student farm at Stanford would “close waste loops by composting all campus organic wastes and incorporating these as soil amendments.” (In a destructive trend, universities function more and more like small cities, importing almost all food and energy and exporting enormous quantities of related wastes.)6
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“By participating in the design and operation of” the Stanford student farm, “students could learn that our problems are not beyond intelligent solutions; that solutions are close by; and that institutions that often seem to be inflexible, unimaginative, and remote from the effort to build sustainable society can be otherwise.”7
At this point in time, the Student Farm is recognized by the University as an official student organization, with a listing in the directory and eligible for possible funding. There is considerable student interest in the farm (even in its hypothetical state), ensuring that there will not be a lack of willing hands. In an increasingly virtual culture, in which humans are separated from (and largely ignorant of) the production of the houses they inhabit, the clothes they wear and the food they consume, farming needs to be included as a part of a complete liberal arts education.
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