Directed Study

Students in the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program are required to take a one credit directed study as part of the two year master training. These directed studies are successful tools for learning and public service, exposing students to leaders in agricultural policy and requiring them to produce professional quality work.

Recent examples include:

Analyzing Green Payments

In the fall of 2005, Jody Biergel, Meaghan Donovan, Britt Lundgren, and Christine Lee (all AFE '06), worked with American Farmland Trust to analyze the effectiveness of the Conservation Security Program for New England Green Farms. CSP is a green payment scheme that financially rewards farmers using sustainable practices. Their final report included case studies of diverse farms growing a variety of commodities from several New England states, an analysis of farmer experience with CSP, and recommendations for the future direction of green payments.

Read the final report here  (pdf).

Healthy Lands, Healthy People

In spring 2005, AFE students Benjamin Bowell, Colleen Matts, Syrah Merkow, Monique Mikhail, and Aimee Witteman received a grant from the Tufts Institute of the Environment to conduct a feasibility study on the production, processing, and marketing of alternative grains on three Native American reservations in Montana. Their research will begin in fall 2005, with the goal of assessing the viability of introducing a farming system that addresses the links among the environment, human health, and economic development.

Ecolabels and the Pew Initiative for Food and Biotechnology

In preparation for a workshop on standard-setting in the food industry convened by the Pew Initiative for Food and Biotechnology December 2004, Shauna Sadowski ( AFE '05) developed a primer on the coffee market and its classification systems and sustainable standards. This background paper was distributed to workshop participants Shauna attended the workshop as a full participant at the table, helping to extrapolate lessons from coffee to standards for GMO-free claims.

Small Processors and the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC)

In fall 2004, Hilde Petersen ( AFE '05) completed a policy guide on "Sustaining Small Meatpackers" that was distributed by SAC to sustainable agriculture advocates across the country. In developing this paper, which includes policy recommendations for potential inclusion in the forthcoming farm bill, Hilde worked with SAC to identify producers and processors to interview, meetings to attend, and reviewers for various stages of her work.

CAFOs and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR)

In spring 2004, Meredith Reeves (AFE '03) and Shakti (AFE '04) took on the challenge of analyzing how forthcoming rule changes under the Clean Water Act might affect Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Their project culminated in a paper submitted for publication, an issue brief posted on the DAR website, and presentations before DAR leadership and the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation

Community Agriculture and the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

In spring 2003, Ellen Gray (AFE '03) and Larissa McKenna (AFE '04) worked with then-AFE Director, Kathleen Merrigan, to develop a paper, GIS maps and Powerpoint presentation to facilitate David Rockefeller's Stone Barns advisory counsel's understanding of potential meanings of "community-based agriculture." Ultimately the students were flown to NY to present their findings to the advisory committee, as well as at the annual conference of the Agriculture and Human Values Society.

Immigrant Farmers in History

Justine Kahn ( AFE '04) compared two programs intended to enable newly arrived immigrant groups to become farmers in the US: Eastern European Jews at the turn of the 20th century, and Laotian Hmongs a century later working under the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. Her analysis found that although the circumstances of these two efforts differed radically, they faced similar problems, such as: conflicts between the goals of the program sponsors and participants; participants' inadequate skills (respectively the Jews' lack of agricultural experience and the Hmongs' inadequate command of English); inadequate availability of suitable land; and shortages of funds on the part of both the program sponsors and the participants.