Feature
Learning from
the land An ISAT internship class teaches students more than just farming
holistic view of the earth and farming. He found that, especially on a farm, everything is interconnected. Nothing in a farm grows in a vacuum, the plants and animals are in constant interaction with their environment. “On a small farm, everything is a cycle,” Picklap says. A part of this cycle is death. The decomposition allows for new growth to occur which is why learning how to create a proper compost is critical to a farm’s success. At Avalon Acres, they are as obsessive as Romanchuk with understanding the intricacies of nourishing the soil with compost. Students are assigned to a farm that aligns with their interests. Successfully pairing students to farms is Coffman and Teel’s goal. “Even if you have no interest farming, it is a really good way to learn about our environment,” Coffman says. While farming, students are exposed to the intimate connection between humans and our environment. Jake Cochran, a 2012 alumnus, worked as an EMT prior to participating in this course while pursuing a degree in health sciences. Now Cochran works full time at Wildside Farms but at the time he described himself as becoming increasingly frustrated. “I was just not finding the answers I was looking for,” Cochran says. Cochran noticed during his time as an EMT that the majority of issues plaguing patients can be attributed to preventable causes. During his
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internship while in ISAT 473 at Wildside Farms, Cochran began noticing the direct impact that farming has on our health. “We are impacted by the things we put into our bodies,” Cochran says. “And not only that, but our personal economies that include our interactions with people.” Farming not only fortifies our bond with nature but it also strengthens communities as a whole. There must be something said about the knowing exactly who grew your food and how. To echo Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”: “We need to shake the hand that feeds us.”
to expect the best but plan for the worst. “There is an awesome disappointment when things are out of your control,” Evans says. This past summer was especially challenging for Evans because it was there was an above average rainfall. This was completely out of Evans’ control and it led to his tomato crops contracting a disease called blight. Blight renders the crops unsellable by caus- LEFT PHOTO Jake Cochran, a 2012 ing rapid decay. Instead alumnus, interned at Wildside Farms while at JMU. TOP Wildside Farms, in Singers of viewing the loss of the Glen. BOTTOM Jeff Gorman, 2012 alumnus, harvest as a loss in rev- manages Wildside Farms with Cochran. enue and responding by using synthetic fungicides to prevent a future that their future does indeed occurrence, he accepted that lie on a farm. these sort of occurrences are a “Eventually I’d like to own a part of his profession and, in large chunk of land I can live the future, will adjust to the off of,” Romanchuk says. “This variations of weather and crop has been my dream for a while threats by planting more and now.” different varieties of crops. Cochran and his friend Jeff Students learn these invalu- Gorman, another 2012 graduable lessons during their time ate of the internship, are now interning at the farm. This managing Wildside farms. internship not only provides a “It is a really fulfilling thing skill set specific to farming but to do,” Cochran says. also to their lives in general. Farming to the students and Although not every student farm owners is more than skill graduates and decides to work or a pastime. on a farm, but many do find “It turns into your life,”
The fact is we should all at least know how food is grown. It’s a knowledge that has unfortunately been lost.
by Cameron Young n photos by JAMES CHUNG We are surrounded by dirt, but most of us don’t give it a second thought. Chelsea Romanchuk, on the other hand, is enamoured with the processes that go on within the soil. Romanchuk, a junior biology major, reflects fondly upon the time she spent helping her grandparents with their garden as child. “Nature, in general, has always fascinated me,” Romanchuk says. “That life can come from a single seed.” Romanchuk worked over the summer at a farm in New Jersey and wanted to bring her love of nature back to JMU. She is now interning at Avalon Acres, owned by Lorinda Palin and Solly Walker. Romanchuk is not the only student who is
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getting her hands dirty in the fields. Romanchuk and 14 other students are in ISAT 473: Local agriculture and farm internships. The internship fully immerses the student into life of a farmer. It provides insightful first-hand knowledge of the labor of love that is required to grow food. The course is led by professors Jennifer Coffman and Wayne Teel, who created it out of an overwhelming interest from students to work on and learn from small-scale, diversified local farms. During the semester, students combine classroom meetings and assignments with a minimum of five hours a week on their assigned farm, which results in more than 110 hours of farm
time during the semester. Although Romanchuk has only been working at the farm for about a month, she has already developed a deep relationship with the farmers at Avalon Acres. “It already feels like they understand me better than my parents ever have,” Romanchuk says. Romanchuk and Palin get along so well because of their shared love of soil. Avalon Acres focuses on growing vegetables and herbs through organic practices. Romanchuk was also impressed that the farm even had a biochar kiln. This tool helps with reducing the farm’s overall carbon footprint. This among other practices allows Romanchuk
to confidently describe Avalon Acres methodology as beyond organic. This all begins and ends with compost in preparation for the next season. Avalon among other participating farms strive to create a truly sustainable ecosystem from the ground up. They hold a firmly held belief that farming is a reflection of the care and effort that the farmer puts forth into his fields. The ideology of beyond organic was echoed by John Picklap, a 2013 alumnus, who directed the documentary “The Farm Course,” which interviewed present students in this course. Picklap noticed that among the students he interviewed, they completed the course with a fresh,
John Picklap
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Without a basic understanding of farming, the disconnection between food production and most consumers is staggering. In this internship, students return to our roots as a civilization, so to speak. “The fact is we should all at least know how food is grown,” Picklap says. “It’s a knowledge that has unfortunately been lost.” “[It is] an incredibly tangible way to realize the problems we have with waste, pollution and health,” Picklap says. Yet, no matter how much planning famers do, there are factors that are out of their control. Taylor Evans, a 2013 graduate with a degree in biology, describes a lesson he learned during his two semesters interning that he needed
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