We are grateful for all the hard work from the Ag & Food Committee, M&C Café, the SEMAP board, our volunteers, and especially our presenters for a successful 12^th Annual Ag & Food conference.  Thank you!  Nowhere else on the Southcoast can you find that much food and farming knowledge in one location.  The keynote by Dr. Michael Hoffman of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions got the day off to a serious start talking about the effect of climate change on our food system by breaking down a typical meal and discussing how each food item would be affected by climate change.  It was a sobering look at what the future holds for agriculture. 

Round the Bend Farm (RTB), A Center for Restorative Community, located at 92 Allens Neck Road in Dartmouth, MA, is seeking a Farm Intern to join the farm community as a full-time, seasonal employee from May 2019 till November 1, 2019 (start and end dates are flexible). We are looking for a highly motivated and energetic individual – someone who is passionate about RTB’s mission, local food systems, sustainable agriculture, plant-based foods, and social & environmental justice.

The Sustainable Agriculture Program at Bristol Community College has a new look and a new program coordinator. Professor Kimberly Amaral Newton has taken up the position of program coordinator after the long-time coordinator, Jim Corven, retired last August. Since taking on the program, Prof. Newton has secured a $15,000 grant from the Koppelman family to help refurbish and greatly expand the growing capacity of the college, including constructing a series of modular greenhouses to extend the growing period into the school year. The current heated greenhouse (also a gift from the Koppelman family) will be utilized to capacity to help grow out transplants for the new effort. Students from the sustainable agriculture program will actually construct the modular greenhouses and add to the protected growing capability with each new class.

All of the produce grown on campus will be donated to the student population, to help meet the need of food insecurity on campus. The project will be part of a new “CSA” or “College Supported Agriculture” effort on campus where students both from the agriculture program and the general student population can assist with the growing effort, and learn about agriculture in the process.

The program aims to give students scientific and technical knowledge regarding agriculture along with hands-on opportunities to practice those skills, and prepare them for employment on local farms or to develop their own farm. This hands-on component is also being expanded upon with a new internship opportunity that is being built into a program redesign. Local farmers interested in taking on a new intern to help them learn and succeed in the field are encouraged to contact Prof. Newton at kimberly.newton@bristolcc.edu

March 2019, Bristol County Agricultural High School
Job Description: BA Grows Managers
BA Grows Program Supervisors reports directly to the Superintendent/Director

Bristol Aggie Grows is an innovative program where students are involved in every aspect of growing, harvesting, and selling crops, from starting seedlings to operating a small mobile farm stand on the Bristol Aggie campus.