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2011 Spring

March 7, 2011 / Leave a comment

Meeting Notes for April 10th –

I want to thank everyone for coming to our first meeting this past Wednesday. What a lot of great energy – it’s wonderful to have so many interested perspectives on the KCC Farm.
A few updates: 

1. On Wednesday, April 13th, we are holding a ground-breaking event at the Farm. Members of Active Citizen Project will be there to talk about the project, and we are issuing a call for volunteers ready for some hard work building the boxes that will eventually be filled with dirt. Mara is working with a KCC student who has designed a flyer. We will send these to you ASAP. Please join us – whether or not you plan on getting down!

2. I will set up the Farm FIG Wiki, and as soon as I’ve alerted Janine Graziano-King that is ready to launch, I will send the link to our mailing list.

3. To make communication easier, I will create a table with our names, departments, and emails. If you know of someone who was unable to make the meeting, but who would like to be on our mailing list, forward their contact information, and I will add them to the list.

4. “Homework” for our next meeting (May 4th) is to consider ways in which your Department can integrate the Farm, and what structures may exist that could help bridge/connect Farm Training (what we’re hoping will be a Farm Practicum), with other courses, be they ENG 12 and 24, or Internship. Annie DelPrincipe has already sent us a breakdown of where ENG 24 in particular could be focused on food/urban farming (thank you!).

5. There is clearly interest in creating a Program around the Farm in Liberal Studies. Annie Hauck-Lawson’s model for an interdisciplinary program could provide language (Annie, if you could send some material along, that would be a great help). There is an Urban Studies Program in the works (I am peripherally involved with the related FIG), and the Global Studies Program is in place. These will also serve as models. If we can sketch out a list of courses that could comprise this, and what goals such a Program might include at our next meeting, the next step will be to talk to Reza Fakhari about this possibility.

Update April 25th
 We had a great kick-off on the Farm two weeks ago on April 13th. Elaina Olynciw and Janine Graziano-King (“farming is dangerous!”) joined Mara and I and a nice size group of student volunteers in building the beds. Power tools and all. A lot of you dropped by and that is very much appreciated. Mara is going to be working tomorrow with Gus and student volunteers tomorrow. From now on they will be working on Tuesdays and Fridays. I have not yet posted minutes on the Farm FIG Wiki. This should happen shortly. I apologize for the delay. Below is the blurb we sent out to Culinary Arts students about the special topics course this summer. The course is going to be about 75 – 80% farming techniques, and about 25-20% kitchen/sourcing/processing techniques. We will also be recruiting students to stay on during August. In CA, we can “bank” student hours for their Internship. Perhaps some of your programs could make similar accommodations. So, please share widely and if you have questions, send them along. Mara and I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday, May 4th at 3 pm.

Announcement: Please email Babette Audant at baudant@kingsborough.edu if you are interested in participating in the 2011 KCC Summer Urban Farm Class and Internship program. And feel free to send us questions as well! The KCC Summer Urban Farm Class and Internship will provide you with urban farming expertise and knowledge about building a more sustainable food system. This program emphasizes hands-on experience and practical skills. You will learn how to build beds, plant seeds, harvest crops, prepare them for market – and all the steps in between. You will develop expertise in the rapidly expanding local food economy. For culinary students in particular, you will gain valued ground-level knowledge of the farm-to-table production chain.

As part of an inaugural farm team, you will be a part of making history – to the best of our knowledge, this is the first farm of its kind at an urban community college across the US. This will not be easy – building a farm is a lot of work – but together we will build something that students will utilize long after you graduate.

Farmers are required to:
Register for CA 8201 Special Topics in CA: Urban Agriculture, MW
10:45-4:00 with Chef Audant and Ms. Gittleman.  Additional credits or hours for internship may be available–talk to your advisor.
Be prepared.Be committed.
Please bring:
Clothing and shoes – and a hat! – appropriate for working outdoors that you don’t mind getting dirtyWater
Snack
Notebook, folder or binder, and a writing utensil
We will provide tools and other farm equipment.

 

Update April 29th –

Since our last meeting some major work has been done on the Farm thanks in large part to Mara’s – and Rosemary Bufano’s – relentless recruitment efforts. The beds have been built (see above) and an enormous delivery of dirt/compost was deposited on Wednesday, April 27th. This Saturday, the greenhouse/hoop house will be built.

Elaine Olyciw has initiated a conversation with Loretta Taras about collaboration on courses, and about the Biology Department’s greenhouse. Annie Del Principe has reached to the large numbers of students in ENG 12 and 24 about volunteering on the Farm. Annie Hauck-Lawson brought a colleague from the Netherlands to campus today as part of a tour of Brooklyn’s agricultural landscape, and the farm was included. Mara and I will be meeting with Director of CEWD Stu Schulman next week to discuss structures for student farmers, including the possibility of creating a response squad that works on large, labor intensive projects as they pop up. We’ll report what might be in process at our next meeting. I ran into Reza Fakhari yesterday. The time is right (and ripe) for a Program in Sustainable Systems/Agriculture/Urban Farming. There is interest in developing concentrations in liberal arts, and in science-in-society programs.

And if I’ve missed something, I apologize for the oversight!