Where to Begin?

In the approximately six months since I last posted, I have gotten into all kinds of shenanigans. To the point where I think recapping will require more than one post. I'll start at the beginning of the semester.

I spent a whole bunch of energy early in the semester on Farmhack@ESF. This was a one day conference for farmers and designers to collaborate on solutions for small scale agriculture and part of my internship with the National Young Farmers' Coalition. This event was on September 17th, only three weeks into the semester. Which in many ways was a hassle, but I spent the better part of the summer scheming to make it happen. I learned a whole bunch about planning an event, marketing, getting funding and having the gumption to ask for what you want. I certainly appreciate the press Farmhack@ESF received and it was interesting to write about the event in a number of different contexts. But now this is my blog. The context is me.

For me I am really thankful that my friends from Tantré Farm came all the way from Michigan to participate. That was wonderful, you all contributed so much. My Mom and Dad were a fantastic support team that took care of all the food and logistics business the day of. It was such a relief to have fewer things to be coordinating while the event was going on. Stew Diemont is my academic advisor and he pitched a design about agroforestry systems and spent his whole Saturday there which am so grateful for. BR and Lindsey from NYFC were very kind to let me just run with Farm Hack and while that kind of freedom was certainly intimidating, I learned so much from it. Really I'm just thankful to everyone who participated. You were all rock stars.

Ultimately, I learned that bringing farming and engineering together is useful. Local agriculture poses new design problems in that designs must be low budget and sustainable. Many of these issues have already been tackled on a much larger scale in industrial agriculture, but that equipment or those techniques are not affordable or effective at a smaller scale. For example, the mulch/manure spreader that BR and Creek cooked up -- I'm certain that has been done before in a different context. I received positive responses from the farmers and the students which made it all seem worth it.

Since I've already put in a sizable amount of legwork and there appears to be a demand for it, I'm hoping to pass this project along to an underclassmen for next year. I would gladly share that September is just about the worst time of year to plan an event for farmers and that if you would like to get funded at ESF, plan for it during the preceding academic year so that clubs can budget it in. I've also got a hefty list of contact information for farmers and local food people. Fellow ESF students, are you in?

The more I learn about farming and local food, the more it is apparent that the biggest hurdles are frequently business planning and finances. What if Farm Hack, or something like it, turned into a day of brainstorming business plans? Would that be helpful? Do business students do things like this already? I think I need make some business major friends.