For some Yalies, Saturday means farm work

At first, it was just for the frosh. Harvest, an extension of Yale's Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips (FOOT) that began at the start of this year, offered groups of nine incoming Yale freshmen first-hand organic farming experience—a chance to pick sun-ripened tomatoes, gather wildflower seeds, and harvest squash. But when Jill Cohen, JE '03, one of the founders of the Harvest program, saw how excited Harvest alumni were at the prospect of returning to the fields, she had an idea. She called up some of the farms Harvest had visited and told the owners students were interested in coming back.

MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES Members of the student group Harvest hope to introduce Yalies to the joys and rewards of organic farming.

"I really enjoyed watching people on the farm get excited about how vegetables get on their tables," Cohen said of her experience at Harvest. "It was fun to watch them learn about something they never knew before, something they wanted to continue to do." The farmers agreed. When Cohen told Peter Rothenberg, owner of an organic farm in North Branford, that students wanted to return to his farm, he loved the idea. Now, Harvest has grown from a one-time freshman experience to a weekly event for many Yalies.

Students visit several farms and perform many different jobs. On Sat., Oct. 6, four students made their way to Rothenberg's farm. A morning of stacking wood, cleaning goat stalls, preparing garlic, and tending to a llama awaited them; unfortunately, rain kept them away from the fields. "It's healthy that students are putting down books and getting on the farm for a few hours. It's a good way for city people to keep a connection with the food they eat," he said.

Rothenberg is not the only one lending his farm to Yale students. George Purtill, a part-time organic farmer and part-time lawyer, owns Old Maid's Farm in South Glastonbury, and on Sat., Sept. 29, a group of four Yalies made the 45-minute trip there. Upon arrival, the students headed to one of Purtill's fields, where they harvested squash varieties ranging from white acorn to black forest. After cutting each squash off its root, they loaded the vegetables onto a conveyor belt pulled by a tractor, which students took turns driving.

In all, with the help of George and his farm assistant Roberto, the group managed to harvest a total of 5,000 lbs. of squash. James Scott, director of Agrarian Studies at Yale, sees these short trips to organic farms as important educational opportunities. "It's fabulous for students to take an interest in the food they eat," he said. "To most people, it's [just] packaged stuff."

Scott also said it is important that students understand the benefits of organic farming. Since organic farming depends on natural pest control, as opposed to regular farming, which relies on pesticides, it helps maintain biodiversity and strengthen the fertility of soil. Organic farmers try to produce tougher crops that have more natural resistant to insects and diseases.

"Not only do [organic farms] tend to grow tastier, better foods," Scott said, "[but they are also] preserving the landscape. They are almost always mixed farms where they grow many different crops."

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