Stony Brook University is introducing a new piece into the local food ecosystem here in 2023, with the launch of a new Small Scale Farming Program this month at the university’s Southampton campus.
Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz, who was instrumental in getting school garden programs off the ground on the East End in her career at the Bridgehampton School and her work as New York Director for Slow Food USA, is now the Director of the university’s FoodLab, which for years has been running a conference on food and agriculture.
“You can’t separate food from food production. I feel really strongly about that,” said Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz, who is now responsible for creating FoodLab’s educational programming. She had used a bio-intensive farming model created by J.M. Fortier in her work at Bridgehampton, which she plans to continue to use at Stony Brook.
“He created a model of farming that is profitable on small acreage. I feel super-strongly that we have to provide the means for people to make a living, particularly out here,” she said. “People aren’t inheriting land or farms. A starting farmer is challenged by a difficult market. Biointensive farming is different than traditional farming.”
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