Yale Farm
Location: New Haven, CT
History:
The seeds of the Project were sown in 2000, when a group of Yale students enrolled in a class about environmental health and policy taught by Professor John Wargo in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. As these students learned about the harmful impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment, they became concerned about the food in Yale’s dining halls, and began meeting with Yale’s dining services to discuss increasing the amount of organic food in dining halls.
The work of these students was supplemented early on by the interest of Alice Waters, owner of the world famous restaurant Chez Panisse. In 2001 Waters became interested in the culture of food at Yale when her daughter, Fanny Singer, enrolled in the college. A conversation between Waters and Yale President Richard Levin sparked the idea for an ambitious University undertaking: a project encompassing a sustainable dining program, a college farm, university composting, and increased education around food and agriculture.
In the spring of 2003, student interns broke ground at the Yale Farm, and ran a composting pilot to recycle waste from Yale’s dining halls. That summer, students harvested the Farm’s first vegetable crop and began selling their produce at the New Haven farmers’ market.
Each summer, six undergraduates spend their summer as Yale Farm interns, learning the theory and practice of sustainable agriculture through work, classes, and field trips. In 2005, summer interns helped a team of artisan masons build a wood-fired hearth oven at the farm, made with reclaimed wood and stone. When the weather permits, the oven is used regularly for cooking and baking. The Yale Farm is a four-season market garden; cultivation continues through the winter in an unheated hoophouse. Weekly workdays throughout the year are run by student farm managers, who teach and direct volunteer farm work. Workshops are held regularly at the farm, on topics ranging from bread-baking and fruit preserving to winter growing and pruning. The farm also hosts seasonal festivals, like a fall Harvest festival and a spring pig roast.
Size:
1 acre
Ten .03-acre growing plots (4 under seasonal high tunnels), 1 pavilion with brick oven, 4 perennial berms, 1 propagation house (under seasonal high tunnel), 1 shipping container for tool storage, 1 shed converted into a walk-in cooler, 1 chicken coop.
Crops:
Salad greens: arugula, baby mustards, tatsoi, yukina savoy, spinach, head lettuces.
Roots: beets, carrots, salad turnips, radishes, rutabagas, celeriac, horseradish, ginger, turmeric, galangal.
Cucurbits: cucumbers, summer squash, winter squash.
Brassicas: broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, kale, Brussels Sprouts.
Allia: onions, scallions, garlic.
Legumes: bush beans, pole beans, peas (sugar snap and shelling), soybeans, field peas.
Solanum: tomatoes (cherry, heirloom, and red slicers), eggplant, hot peppers, sweet peppers, potatoes.
Grains: Ukranika wheat, flour corn, popcorn.
Fennel, Parsnips, Asparagus
Herbs: basil, dill, parsley, lavender, sage, thyme, winter savory, echinacea, chives, anise hyssop, rosemary.
Berries: strawberries, alpine strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, jostaberries, blueberries.
Tree Fruits: apples, plums, pears.
Fiber: flax.
Fuel: canola (rapeseed).
Produce Use:
Farmers markets (CitySeed Saturday market at Wooster Square).
Restaurant sales (Miya’s Sushi, Roia).
On-farm events (wood-fired pizza after Friday workdays; events for Yale administration, faculty, and visiting speakers).
Given to volunteers and student staff.
Livestock:
Laying hens, bees.
Education and Academic Programs:
Seed to Salad Program: 6-week program every spring and fall. New Haven Public Schools 2nd grade classes visit the Yale Farm every week. They sow, transplant, and engage in garden education. The program culminates in a salad feast produced by the school children.
Lazarus Summer Internship: six Yale undergraduate students work for 11 weeks on the Yale Farm every summer. They steward the acre through a robust growing season, visit regional food growers, and hear from urban and rural food advocacy groups. Each student generates an academic project on a topic of their choosing. The program develops student perspectives on local, national, and global food systems.
Community Programs:
During the school year:
Volunteer Work Days: 3/week, led by Yale Farm student interns. These are open to both the Yale community and the New Haven community.
Lolapplooza: October apple-pressing event led by graduate students at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Science.
The Jack Hitt Annual Pig Roast — Fall event that combines music, food, and farm work.
During the summer:
Volunteer Work Days — Fridays and Saturdays, open to the public.
Primary
Jeremy Oldfield: jeremy.oldfield@pomona.edu
Other
Jacqueline Lewin, Programs Manager for International and Professional Experience: jacqueline.lewin@yale.edu
Mark Bomford, Director, Yale Sustainable Food Project: mark.bomford@yale.edu
Media:
Tumblr: http://ysfp.tumblr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theyalesustainablefoodproject
Instagram: http://instagram.com/ysfp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ysfp
Academic Farm Association 