Who We Are

The Kate Farm,  along with the SMCM Veggie Co-op, shaped my unwavering belief that food is powerful. Not only is it essential for our survival, but it has an intrinsic ability to shape memories, create community, tell stories and, above all else, connect people to each other and the land. Finding the farm was a saving grace for me - I nearly dropped out of school my sophomore year due to stress and the farm (along with the co-op) were the main reasons I stayed. My years at Kate Farm guided me to my degree and highly informed my SMP. 

During my senior year, I lived in Guatuso, Costa Rica with the Maleku Indigenous community and learned how to farm coffee and cacao. When I returned to the states, the pandemic took the world by storm and I took a call to serve the undervalued communities of the greater Little Rock area in the Natural State of Arkansas as a Full Circle FarmCorps member. I was quickly offered a job as the Community Garden Program Coordinator with the City of North Little Rock, which supports 25+ community gardens and urban farms throughout the city - offering agricultural/garden grant opportunities and providing neighbors with free on-site technical assistance and resources (tools, soil amendments, seeds, etc.) 

Within a year, I was promoted to Program Director and continued working to support and expand food security initiatives within the city. In 2021, the program won the state-wide Volunteer Community of the Year Award. In 2023, we launched a city-wide Little Free Pantry initiative in partnership with 15+ non-profits and Engage AR, the state office for national service and volunteerism, in effort to combat hunger in a stigma-free way. In tandem with this position, I served as the Farmers' Market Manager for a locally-grown, locally-made farmers' market in Central Arkansas. I was able to make long-lasting connections with local producers and learn loads about non-profit management, food safety laws, and the Double Up Food Bucks program. 

On the side, I served on the board of Urban Patchwork, a grassroots non-profit working to educate the urban community on self-sufficient growing practices. They host workshops on beekeeping, raising chickens, raised beds, seed-starting, etc. with a core focus on underserved communities. The goal is to help catalyze food sovereignty in neighborhoods that need it the most! I also volunteered regularly at Potluck Food Rescue, a local non-profit working to reduce food insecurity by redirecting potential food waste to organizations that fight hunger. Throughout this time, I secured my Arkansas Master Gardener certification and completed the Certified Associated Project Management through the University of Arkansas. 

Most recently, I moved to the great Evergreen State of Washington to pursue new and exciting opportunities in the Pacific North West. Now, I work as a Farm Hand and Social Media Manager for Skokomish Valley Farms (SVF) - a certified-organic and regenerative farm and orchard focusing on fruit and vegetable production, ethical poultry and sheep production, and cut flowers. On the side, I serve as the Communications and Business Manager for South Sound Fresh - a farmer co-operative partnership that delivers fresh, local, and affordable produce direct-to-doorstep. There is chatter that I will be launching the Agrotourism Enterprise at SVF and have plans to begin my Masters in Agriculture at Washington State University in 2025....stay tuned! 

Sawyer's advice to students: "If you love farming and/or food security, and feel it is your life's purpose - follow that path. As long as you can afford YOUR way of life, one that is filled with fresh foods, community, regeneration, and sustainability, you will be far richer than those wearing fancy suits who sit in skyscrapers."

The tranquil energy that came over me every time I pulled up to the Kate Farm holds such a distinct space in my memory. Even though I was arriving to the farm for work, a class, or as a TA, a calming aura always made its way to me at the farm. Maybe it was just having a space away from campus, or that it was a space that felt like it was my own, or maybe it was the healing power of dirt. Regardless, simply existing in a space focused on cultivating community gave me incredibly found memories of the Kate Farm.

I never felt like I had a niche on campus until I started visiting the Kate Farm. I took part in athletics and leadership groups, but I found myself really excelling at working up a sweat and playing in the dirt. My days at SMCM were centered around working on the farm or including it in my classwork. It was the nucleus of my undergraduate experience. 

The Kate Farm shifted my endeavors towards agriculture. After graduation, I completed an agricultural apprenticeship with Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners. Working under my host farm, Hancock Family Farm, taught me invaluable growing skills as well as what it takes to run a working farm. Once the growing season wrapped up, I started an Americorps year of service with Green Mountain Farm-to-School in Northern Vermont. Here, I implement agricultural programing in the Vermont public schools while forming links between schools, students, and farmers. 

Riesett's advice to students: "My biggest piece of advice to thrive in the food system space is to spend some time working full time on a working farm. While it might not be the most glamorous, there is not better way to understand where our food comes from and the people that impact it."

My experience on the Kate Farm brought me to like-minded people and gave me perspective on what I wanted from my degree.  

Showing up to the Kate farm at odd hours of the morning or evening and finding a familiar face there, student or community member, is something I still miss. Often, I'd show up there with no particular task and join in with someone else.  Having a place where one goes to do work but also chooses that work over anything else they could be doing (both for the people and the work itself) is something I still find myself seeking after leaving the Kate Farm.

I was lucky enough to already be studying environmental justice and biology in the classroom, but seeing those things in practice and being able to imagine how they can change the world around you adds another dimension to that education.  I believe what you learn in a classroom is often a gathering of kindling, and you have to find the thing that will spark the fire of action in you.  For me, that was my time on the Kate Farm and the glimpse it gave me into other food systems and the passion that exists for bettering them in others.  The fact that there was so much joy and fun to be had in farming also informed by decision to continue in the field.

Since graduating, I worked as the Sustainability Fellow at SMCM and afterwards moved back to Baltimore.  I now work on and manage an urban farm that supplements a restaurant and sells fresh produce grown on the farm in the stores.  We are partnered with the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, which is an incredible group of people working to provide resources to urban farmers and fresh, often free, produce to communities in the city.  

It has been different being a farmer who works in a community that is largely disconnected from farming. However, I find, as was often true at SMCM, that most people I meet- independent of profession or background- have an interest in farming and learning how to grow food.  It has been a continued process of trying to cultivate that interest in others while also searching for the people who are going to help me with that cultivation in my own practice.

Dillingham's advice to students: "Seek out elders in the community as often as you can.  Once you experience the volume of new knowledge that comes from a single season, it's almost baffling to imagine just how much knowledge individual farmers and even generations carry around both about growing food and creating community.  You will also save yourself a lot of time and morale listening to the mistakes and solutions of those with more experience instead of making and solving (or failing to solve) them yourself."

I really enjoyed my volunteer experiences on the farm - particularly when I was able to do some work with the bees and the beehives (not sure if they are still there). I also loved my regular visits when I would collect the campus compost and deliver it to the farm. It gave me my first insight into a localized sustainable food system. There were so many cool education and community opportunities offered at the farm. 

My time at SMCM was scattered with exposure to food studies and agriculture. I knew I wanted to do something in environmentalism (hence the environmental studies degree) but I wasn't sure where I fit in. There was a new found excitement when exploring that community and I knew I would incorporate what I learned into my lifestyle, and if I could my career as well. 

The experiences at the farm mentioned above absolutely shaped my post-baccalaureate endeavors. While working as a real estate agent in 2019, I found that I missed working in environmentalism and food systems. So in 2021, I went back to school for a certificate in Sustainable Agriculture at University of Maryland's Institute of Applied Agriculture, where I focused on urban agriculture and urban food systems. I was lucky enough to have Meredith Epstein as my advisor and professor throughout this program (another SMCM and Farm alum!), who guided me through classes, an internship, and hands-on projects in sustainable agriculture and food system studies. Afterward and through the end of the pandemic, I worked as a manager with Frederick County's Frederick Fresh Online, which was a platform that connected County residents with local farmers throughout the county and provided contactless delivery of fresh food each week. It was absolutely an honor to be able to participate in my hometown's local food system by providing an innovative service in times of need. 

As the pandemic slowed and the service was no longer in demand, I decided to go back for more school! I left for Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands in 2022 for a 2-year Master's Degree in Urban Environmental Management to explore the intersection of city planning and management with localized and sustainable food systems. This international perspective on food systems and city planning was one of the highlights of my life and I look forward to returning to the states with this valuable knowledge. 

Berenschot-Bucciero's advice to students: "My advice is to keep yourself open to opportunities - nothing in life is a clear or straightforward path and sometimes the best path is one you create for yourself. You have so many resources at your fingertips at SMCM...use them!"

"It was a huge piece of my SMCM experience. I got a ton of farming experience at the campus farm, and it’s shaped what I’m doing to this day. It fostered my love for small scale organic agriculture and I learned so much! I really enjoyed the hands on aspect, where I got to put my ENST teachings into practice."

Recently Stillson lived in the US Virgin Islands working at Sugar Brown Farms.  The small farm grows  micro greens, leafy greens (lettuce, arugula, mustard greens, tatsoi), and herbs, which they sell to local restaurants and visiting chefs.  

Stillson's advice to students: "Learn as much as you can! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. The campus farm is an incredible resource to learn about small scale agriculture."

After graduating, Shelby worked in sustainable agriculture policy. Kalm is now working on her master's degree in food and agriculture law and policy. 

Kalm says, "the campus farm definitely helped solidify my interest in local food... I imagine my time at the campus farm helped make some of these ideas feel less abstract--having a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with a community garden space."

Kalm's advice to students: "If you are able, get your hands in the dirt! Having a deeper understanding of what it takes to grow and cultivate food is critical."

Working with Kate Chandler  to re-establish the Community Garden, and then help it transition to the farm it is today, was a major influence on my academic and professional career. I also worked at Even' Star Farm for a few years during and after SMCM. I hadn't imagined studying and working in agriculture when I arrived at SMCM as a Psychology-Art double major. But I eventually changed my major to Student Designed and called it "Environmental Studies" (this major did not exist at SMCM then), and Kate Chandler was my advisor.

I went on to complete the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture at UC-Santa Cruz and then get my master's degree in Agriculture, Food and Environment at Tufts University. Since then, I have been teaching at the University of Maryland's Institute of Applied Agriculture. I teach and advise students majoring in Sustainable Agriculture, and I manage the Community Learning Garden on campus. At home, I own and operate Lemon House Farm with my husband Guy, who is also an SMCM alum. During the pandemic, he and I were adjunct instructors of Environmental Studies at SMCM and taught ENST391 Farm to Fork. We used the Kate Chandler Campus Community Farm as a space for hands-on learning and "labs."

Epstein's advice to students: "Get at least one (paid) internship on a farm that has been a successful business for many years. Agriculture is just as much about business management as it is about plants and animals."

Read about additional careers cultivated on the Kate Farm including: 

Elaine Buckham, '16

Isabella Lee, '16

Eva Shpak, '15

Gabe McKenna, '15

Aaron French, '11

Nathan Beall, '11

Rachel Clement, '08 MAT '10

Rich Kolm, '10

Bryan Alexander, 10

Erica Maust, '09

Guy Kilpatric, '09