Linfield students and members from the Office of Sustainability will be
giving a presentation this Wednesday, Sept. 18 about their experiences during this past summer summer in an internship program titled
“Sustainable Agriculture.”
The presentation will begin at 6:30 pm in TJ Day Hall, room 219.
“This summer six Linfield students served on two local organic farms; Gaining Ground…and River Ridge farm in McMinville,” Duncan
Reid, the Office of Sustainability Coordinator, said by email.
During the internship, “They spent three days per week working on the farms and two days per week learning about the food system
through group conversations and field trips.
Gaining Ground, a family owned and operated farm, located in Yamhill was just one of the farms visited by the interns.
The Paine Family has been cultivating approximately six acres in Yamhill County since 2004, and is “dedicated to providing healthy,
local, fresh food and reconnecting people to what they eat,” according to the Gaining Ground website.
“We are driven by the conviction that a strong local food system is central to a thriving community, and the hope that our produce
connects people to where they live and what they eat.”
Throughout the internship, interns took various field trips to other farms and gardens associated with organic farming
techniques.
“We did take a field trip to Zena Farm, Willamette’s farm program.”
“We also visited urban gardens in Portland, Oakhill Organics in Grand Island, Vibrant Valley Farm in Carlton and others,” Reid said.
The presentation itself will be an overview of the internship experience along with individual student presentations on projects that
they collaborated with farmers about.
“The projects were: a business plan for a farm to street food cart, growing food in a high tunnel green house, research on the
program’s effect on the farmers and a farm to school curriculum,” Reid said.
The goal of the project was to examine the current state of our industrial agriculture system.
Also, farmers have already implemented organic production methods, which raises “questions around how we can move towards a
more sustainable food system.”
Linfield students and members from the Office of Sustainability will be giving a presentation this Wednesday, Sept. 18 about their
experiences during this past summer summer in an internship program titled “Sustainable Agriculture.”
The presentation will begin at 6:30 pm in TJ Day Hall, room 219.
“This summer six Linfield students served on two local organic farms; Gaining Ground…and River Ridge farm in McMinville,” Duncan
Reid, the Office of Sustainability Coordinator, said by email.
During the internship, “They spent three days per week working on the farms and two days per week learning about the food system
through group conversations and field trips.
Gaining Ground, a family owned and operated farm, located in Yamhill was just one of the farms visited by the interns.
The Paine Family has been cultivating approximately six acres in Yamhill County since 2004, and is “dedicated to providing healthy,
local, fresh food and reconnecting people to what they eat,” according to the Gaining Ground website.
“We are driven by the conviction that a strong local food system is central to a thriving community, and the hope that our produce
connects people to where they live and what they eat.”
Throughout the internship, interns took various field trips to other farms and gardens associated with organic farming
techniques.
“We did take a field trip to Zena Farm, Willamette’s farm program.”
“We also visited urban gardens in Portland, Oakhill Organics in Grand Island, Vibrant Valley Farm in Carlton and others,” Reid said.
The presentation itself will be an overview of the internship experience along with individual student presentations on projects that
they collaborated with farmers about.
“The projects were: a business plan for a farm to street food cart, growing food in a high tunnel green house, research on the
program’s effect on the farmers and a farm to school curriculum,” Reid said.
The goal of the project was to examine the current state of our industrial agriculture system.
Also, farmers have already implemented organic production methods, which raises “questions around how we can move towards a
more sustainable food system.”
Ryan Morgan / Senior reporter
