WRSI: Amherst College – Book & Plow Farm and Dining Services

Book and Plow Farm at Amherst College: 5 acres. 45 students. 40 different crops. Feeding the community in many different ways (nutritionally, academically, emotionally…grammatically?)

The farm is integrated in all sorts of campus activities, and if the food they grow isn’t used by the dining hall or distributed in their CSA, it’s donated to the Amherst Survival Center, says Farm Manager Maida Ives.

“It’s a fantastic partnership between dining services and the farm,” says Joe Flueckiger, Director of Amherst College Dining Services. “Students work on the farm and then literally see the fruits of their labor in the dining hall at a meal.” The school also buys from many other local farms in the area.