The MIT Farm initiative, which launched this fall, aims to bring community members to green spaces and green spaces to community members. Their flagship programs include student volunteering sessions at local farms, a weekly community-supported agriculture (CSA) "Fresh Food Bag" popup, and a modular miniature mobile farm prototype.
On Oct. 4, The Tech spoke with Aleks Banas G, Zachary Rapaport March G, and Kahlen Wheaton '27, three members of the MIT Farm executive team. Banas and Rapaport stated that they were inspired to bring agriculture to the Institute after participating in the MIT Civilian Climate Corps program, a collaboration between the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), the Department of Architecture, and the Urban Risk Lab.
The members of the executive team worked with Professor of Anthropology Heather Paxson, who teaches 21A.155: Food, Culture, and Politics. In July, Susy Jones, a Senior Project Manager at MIT's Office of Sustainability, sent Paxson an article about federal funding cuts affecting Hannan Healthy Foods Farm in Lincoln. Jones put Paxson, who had brought her class to the farm in an earlier semester, in contact with Rapaport and Banas. They worked together with the Hannan Farm team to organize the farmstand and volunteering initiatives.
Through MIT Farm, the organizers hope to create a vibrant student organization rooted in a passion for fresh food. In addition, they seek to accelerate momentum for the creation of physical growing spaces on campus, buoyed by robust partnerships with MIT units and outside farms.
Read more at The Tech
