Bumper Crop
Montclair Community Farms Project sows seeds of sustainable farming success
In recent years, numerous studies have ominously predicted that childhood obesity will shorten Americans' average life expectancy by as much as five years in the coming decades. For Montclair Community Farms Project Coordinator Karen Lee, who graduated from Montclair State with a master's degree in 2014, such projections have reinforced her personal commitment to reeducating children's taste buds and reconnecting them with real food. "The health of our future generations depends on it," she insists.
A student checks out chicks on the farm.
Long before thinking of becoming an urban farmer, Lee spent more than 10 years on Wall Street and then retired to raise her children. That's when her interest in health and wellness led her to teach cooking and nutrition in after-school programs and pursue a master's degree in nutrition and food science. An internship led to an AmeriCorps membership and a position as the Montclair Community Farms project coordinator.
"The farm is a healthy place where volunteers of all ages can help grow food," says Lee, who coordinates engagement and service learning for Montclair Community Farms and its coalition of partners. "It is a powerful collective resource for our entire community."
Reconnecting with the past
In Montclair's early days, agriculture was a mainstay of the local economy, with families living close to the land. A couple centuries later, that model no longer applies, but residents are looking for a healthier connection to the land along with "farm-to-table" produce. In 2011, the Miller Street Community Farm Coalition was established with a simple goal: to provide local farm sites that engage community members in sustainable farming practices and provide access to locally grown, affordable, organic food. (In 2013, the coalition adopted its current name.)
Karen Lee explains to students how the farm works.
In addition to the University, Montclair Community Farms Coalition members include the Montclair Department of Health and Human Services, the Montclair Historical Society, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Essex County and HOMECorp, a housing revitalization organization. While Partners for Health Foundation has funded the initiative from the beginning, other supporters have included Capital One, the New Jersey Commission for National and Community Service and Slow Food Northern New Jersey.
There are two community farm sites in Montclair: the original Miller Street site located on land donated and owned by HOMECorp and a 6,000-square-foot plot behind the Montclair Historical Society's Clark House. "These are truly local community farms in the heart of suburban Montclair, where education and community engagement meet to reconnect people of all ages, particularly the elderly, to local sustainable farming," explains Lee.
According to Bryan Murdock, Montclair State's director of the Center for Community Engagement, Montclair Community Farms' mission is unique.
"It is a kind of learning laboratory where people of all ages and backgrounds can learn about how healthy and nutritious food is grown, about food safety and food traditions, and about environmental stewardship and civic responsibility," he says. "It's an amazing platform for service learning and community engagement."
"The farm is a powerful collective resource for our entire community."
- Karen Lee
Chickens and pesky groundhogs
In 2014 alone, Lee says, 504 students – from preschool through college – were involved in various Montclair Community Farms programs. In the summer, students from kindergarten to fifth grade took part in weeklong farm camps, while area teens gained hands-on experience in organic farming methods.
Last summer, Meiyin Wu, director of the University's Passaic River Institute and professor of biology and molecular biology, brought Institute summer campers to the farm for a hands-on growing experience.
"It was really fun for them to plant okra seeds, watch them grow and then sell the okra to a local Montclair chef who incorporated it into his featured specials," Lee recalls.
While the farm hosts numerous University student volunteers each fall on the National Day of Service, Montclair State and local high school students also regularly volunteer throughout the year. "Their experiences in caring for the farm's resident chickens, helping to rid the farm of a pesky family of groundhogs with voracious appetites and tending farm compost bins give students insights into a world they have never experienced before," says Murdock.
A student holds one of the farm’s young chickens.
Learning from serving
Nutrition major Matthew Duker served as the head adult farmer at Montclair Community Farms from March 2014 until the season's end in November.
While his involvement began as a project for his health issues forum class, he ultimately performed numerous gardening tasks and helped to oversee volunteer groups. "I especially enjoyed seeing visiting groups of children show an interest, ask questions and learn from their visits," he says.
Moving forward, Duker is determined to be a part of similar initiatives. "I believe this trend of people and communities growing their own fresh fruit and vegetables is expanding and happening everywhere," he says. "Wherever these places may be, I'd surely like to be a part of their efforts."
University students serve the farm in other ways. In fall 2014, service-learning students in an organizational consulting course taught by School of Communication and Media Professor Philip Bakelaar helped Lee integrate social media into the farm's website.
As senior Kristal Anevski explains, "We listened to how Karen Lee ran the organization and made tangible items that she could use when marketing the farm through social media."
With Wu's support, graduate student Kassandra Archer, along with Lee and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Watershed Ambassador Jonathan Pereira, conducted a rain barrel workshop where 30 local residents learned how to conserve water by using rain barrels in their own gardens.
“It is a kind of learning laboratory where people of all ages and backgrounds can learn about how healthy and nutritious food is grown, about food safety and food traditions and about environmental stewardship and civic responsibility.”
- Bryan Murdock
"It was gratifying to open people's minds up to a new way of thinking about environmental issues," recalls Archer. "The environmental benefits to the community of a rain barrel workshop are apparent, but the connections made during the workshop are even more important. The meeting of like-minded people sparks ideas for additional projects and connections that will further benefit the community."
From farm to table
In the past, Montclair Community Farms has sold fresh, organic food at its local farm stands. This spring and summer for the first time, a farm truck – or mobile food stand – will deliver organic fresh produce to elderly residents in affordable housing and assisted-living communities.
"We are very excited about the New Jersey Department of Agriculture grant, which funds the mobile food stand. It will really get us into the community," says Lee, of the grant to coalition member, the Montclair Health Department. "We also hope it will help us create new partnerships with local schools and community gardeners who would like to provide food for the mobile food stand."
The coalition is planting ideas, as well as changing habits.
"It means a lot to create a local community resource that promotes a healthy food environment where people of all ages can grow and enjoy delicious farm-fresh produce," says Lee. "I love being out with the many volunteers who work at our farm sites. Seeing the enjoyment on the faces of our volunteers who are planting, harvesting and helping care for our chickens is a true benefit of our efforts at Montclair Community Farms."