It may come as a surprise to some, but New York ranks among the top five states in the nation for agricultural products. Consider its vast fields of sweet corn across the Genesee Valley, dense apple orchards stretched along the Upper Lake Champlain Valley, and the grape harvests of the Finger Lakes region. Milk from dairy cows, alone, accounts for one half of total agricultural receipts. All told, agriculture makes up one quarter of the State’s land area with about 35,600 farms. In 2005, farm products returned more than $3.6 billion to the economy.
Private colleges and universities, spread across these fertile lands and urban regions, have a long history of strengthening the state’s agriculture. Since its opening in 1865, Vassar College has operated a farm on its campus. Initially, the farm supplied the College kitchen with milk, eggs, and vegetables. Over the decades, the farm has evolved to become the centerpiece of innovative agricultural efforts for the entire Mid-Hudson Valley. Two projects on the Vassar Farm are helping to rebuild connections between local farms, food, and communities:
The Poughkeepsie Farm Project operates a community-supported farm with 300 members and provides a range of educational and public service projects, including a city farmers’ market, a “city seeds” program for young adults to become involved in agricultural-related efforts, a “food share” program that donates fresh produce to people in need, and educational tours and events for the community.
Greenway Environmental Services is an innovative business that produces organic topsoil and compost on Vassar College acreage. It works to find new ways to eliminate waste through recovery of organic materials, such as through the recycling of food prep waste from area cafeterias and of materials excavated from construction sites. Students also benefit by conducting environmental studies projects with Greenway. One student built a cooker to convert used cooking oil from the College’s cafeteria into non-fossil biofuel that can replace traditional diesel fuel.
To be sure, innovations rising from the State’s Independent Sector ensure sound agricultural practices that link directly to communities now, and for decades to come. In addition to New York’s land grant Cornell University with its extensive programming, small and/or urban campuses are also influencing local agriculture. The Cooper Union, in the heart of New York City, is investigating how to accelerate plant growth, prolong the growing season, and reduce air pollution – all on city rooftops. Students in its School of Engineering have harnessed steam heat to rooftop garden boxes to test the effects of steam heat on plant life. Initial results are promising; the gardens receiving steam heat experienced a longer growing season and a 20 percent increase in plant growth. This technology also has the potential to reduce the “heat island” effect of urban areas by recapturing steam heat from buildings, factories, and air conditioners that would otherwise go directly into the atmosphere.
Union Graduate College is also tackling greener alternatives for farms through engineering. The College’s School of Engineering is bringing in local energy experts to teach solar and wind power courses in a push to develop a new “Emerging Energy” degree. Both solar and wind energy are playing major roles in keeping local farms in business – with many farmers leasing their land to turbine and solar projects.
For the majority of private campuses statewide, however, the focus is on supporting a regionalized food system. Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks partners with groups that connect local farmers with local markets. Their efforts mean that consumers can find locally grown food and farmers reap the economic benefits of expanding markets. On its own campus, the College hosts a farmers’ market that draws dozens of vendors from the North Country. Plus, its Campus Dining Services aims to procure food grown and packaged within 35 miles of campus.
St. Lawrence University, Long Island University, and Mount Saint Mary College all aim to serve food grown within their local areas. This effort requires leaders who can readily form partnerships with farmers, cooperatives, food service companies, shippers, and local government programs. It also requires that campus chefs design menus around produce that is in season and readily available from local growers. Adelphi University has even developed its own produce logo to help diners identify locally-grown items. Likewise, the University of Rochester became the first college in New York to join the Pride of New York Program developed to promote and support the sale of agricultural products produced in the state.
In its unique position as a culinary school, The Culinary Institute of America boasts a notable impact on the local food economy – spending $500,000 on locally grown products in 2007 alone. To strengthen this effort even further, the Institute created the unique position of farm liaison. Tenth generation farmer Paul Wigsten oversees the school’s program and shares with farmers what ingredients the chefs in the Culinary Institute’s 30 kitchens will want to use in the coming year. Farmers can then plant crops knowing there is a market for their fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables.
A natural classroom of woodlands, wetlands, and a lake, this campus makes agricultural stewardship a priority. Pine Lake provides a living laboratory that teaches Hartwick College and the larger community how to sustain natural resources and demonstrates environmentally-responsible stewardship. Here, 30 students grow their own produce, flowers, and herbs in raised bed gardens. They also host a discussion series – open to the public – on a broad range of issues relating to regionalized food systems, sustainability, and the environment. The discussions are often led by farm owners and managers, such as Challey Comer, manager for the “Pure Catskills” program on “Buy-Local Efforts for Farm, Food, and Forest, The Pure Catskills Branding Campaign.”