Community Life

AFE students at a local agricultural fair.

Acknowledging the central role of community in any sustainable system, AFE reaches into the neighboring communities as an opportunity to both learn and give back. A rich community life is also supported within the academic program to enrich learning and encourage dialogue beyond the classroom. Furthermore, we just like to have fun!

AFE in the Field

Each year, the Agriculture, Food and Environment program organizes several extra-curricular excursions. Popular field trips include:

• Smith's Country Cheese
• Boston Terminal Market
• Cape Cod cranberry bogs and Ocean Spray
• Tufts' Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
• University of Massachusetts Cold Spring Orchard Research and Education Center
• Farm visits

AFE in the Community

AFE students are actively involved with several service opportunities in Boston and the surrounding communities. A recent AFE initiative has linked our graduate students with garden-based teaching opportunities at the Tufts Educational Day Care Center and a local elementary school in Chinatown. Additional urban agricultural opportunities include work with:

• Groundwork Somerville
• Re-Vision House Urban Farm
• The Food Project
• Somerville Community Growing Center

AFE in the City

Known for its rich history and tradition, Boston is a thriving metropolitan center, bursting with art and culture. With more than 40 institutions of higher learning in the surrounding area, the academic flavor in Boston is simply unsurpassed. As a result, AFE students enjoy access to diverse lecture series and seminars, including several relevant lecture series at MIT, the Institute of Politics at the Harvard's Kennedy School and Harvard's environmental network.

In addition to the city's many exciting offerings, the AFE program supports an array of social activities for students and faculty alike, from movie nights to organic happy hours, to "book of the semester" reading clubs.

What I love about AFErs is that no matter where you go, or work in the country there is most likely an AFErs nearby and willing to be a friend and resource. They have a way of cycling through my life in unexpected and wonderful ways. For example last month Odin Zackmann (AFE '01, Executive Director of Dig IN) facilitated a board meeting for Burbank Sprouts, a school garden CBO in San Francisco where I did my dissertation research. It was great to see that those connections we made in Boston years ago are still critical to achieving our life goals of improving society, the environment and food through urban agriculture.

—Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe, PhD '07

FOOD

FOOD is a student initiative based at the Friedman School that is dedicated to the exploration of and action on cultural, political, economic, and environmental aspects of food. FOOD formed in September 2005, in response to the need for an interdisciplinary, extracurricular forum for students and faculty to discuss, act upon, and engage with one another and the greater Boston community on issues related to food and food policy. In addition to the Friedman School, FOOD members come from other Tufts University graduate programs and universities in the Boston area. Through the activities of its subcommittees, FOOD seeks to:

• increase the profile of the interdisciplinary aspects of food studies at the Friedman School through speakers, peer education, seminars, and media outlets
• promote debate and action on food policy / politics
• raise awareness about food-related topics to the larger Tufts community
• create opportunities to contribute to and learn from the greater Boston community on issues of food and nutrition
• promote friendship and loyalty among its members

FEAST

FEAST, Food Education and Action for Sustainability at Tufts, is a partnership between students, Tufts dining services and campus food service operations. FEAST is devoted to educating the Tufts community about the environmental, social and health challenges involved in food production, and promoting the benefits of local farms, organic agriculture and Fair Trade. FEAST sponsored research serves to support changes in institutional purchasing and to make Tufts a model by decreasing the environmental impact of campus food services. For more information on FEAST please visit http://www.tufts.edu/programs/feast/.

Green Roof Project

The Tufts Green Roof Collaborative Project is a joint initiative of the Department of Civil Engineering, the Biology Department and the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program. Faculty and students work together across disciplines to contribute science and policy research to the emerging green roof field. The Collaborative's flagship project is a green roof installation on top of Tisch Library, which serves as an active research plot to determine plant species best suited for the rooftop environment and to assess the ecological benefits of green roofs.

The green roof project has given me the opportunity to work in an exciting and emerging field. What we discover here will have real implications regionally and beyond.

Jennifer Obadia, PhD Candidate