UMD’s Land Lab, 3568 Riley Road, is facilitating the fusion of sustainability, community, and arts at its sixth-annual UMD Farm Fest.
It’s happening on Sunday, September 16 from 12 – 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
A farm-fresh buffet lunch will be prepared by UMD’s Dining Services and sold for $10 for adults and $5 for college students and children.
Celebrating Major Growth
Farm Fest supports and celebrates the 30-acre Sustainable Agriculture Project at the Land Lab, a landscape-scale classroom about four miles from UMD.
Director Randy Hanson says, more importantly, the event offers his students an opportunity to share what they’re learning and growing, as the farm is a centerpiece of campus sustainability efforts. It will produce between 40 and 45 tons of organic produce this year, most of which is delivered to UMD Dining Services, which Hanson says collaborates with and supports the farm in a myriad of ways. “We want to expose all UMD students to this farm and have them join us in transforming the University’s food system,” he explains.
Food and Farm Festival Activities
The Land Lab’s team is offering tours of their operation throughout Farm Fest, and many other representatives of campus and community related sustainability are sharing their work.
Children can participate in the free ‘crafts for kids’ workshops offered by UMD art professor Alison Aune and art education students. Art Professors Joellyn Rock and Darren Houser have also integrated their students into creating the Fest, as well as students from Professor Kathryn Milun’s Anthropology course and Professor Hanson’s Sustainable Food Systems course. Participants will learn about regional activities around food, water, energy, and community change.
For those hoping to take home a slice of the operation, a farmer’s market is offering produce from the Land Lab and area farms.
The Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe is presenting its pageant “Welcome to the Anthropocene” at 2 p.m., accompanied by the Boys Back Home Brass Band. After the pageant, the band will play on stage, followed by the band Four Mile Portage.
The performance is the culmination workshops during which community members and UMD students took a portion of the story and, with the help of artists, created supporting materials.
Sponsorship
Farm Fest is sponsored by UMD Dining Services, UMD Student Life, KUMD,
It is made possible by broad collaboration of campus and community advocates of a more sustainable community.