Farms: UMass Amherst Student Farmers Team Up with Big Y Amherst

By partnering with the Big Y World Class Market, a nearby supermarket, UMass Amherst students are able to bring local organic produce to their community. The Student Farm Enterprise is run by UMass students from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. As part of their program, each student is responsible for three different types of crops and creates a plan for how best to grow them. They plant, harvest, clean, package, and sell the vegetables they've grown to the Big Y, including beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, kale, leeks, onions, red and gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, and butternut squash. The Student Farm Enterprise began in 2007 with two students growing kale. Today, 12 to 15 students a year grow 36 crops for 10 markets. After they graduate, many students choose to continue to work at local farms.