August 2021 - 6

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rumblings that Penn State was thinking
of selling the property, which indeed it
did in 2009 to a developer who developed
apartments and houses on the site.
In 2011, meetings began with parties
interested in seeing more local produce
being served in the dining halls, and the
idea of a student farm emerged again. In
2012, discussions continued and the idea
surfaced of the student farm looking at
the whole food system, not just how to
grow produce. This was the beginning of
a larger vision for the student farm.
A strategy for success
Faculty and other interested parties
began to recognize that in order for this
vision or effort to continue, a funded,
full-time position was necessary.
More visioning sessions were held
where interested faculty, students and
stakeholders would all meet and voice
their vision for how the student-run
farm should be organized and what
they wanted to see happen. In 2014,
a connection was made with the
Sustainability Institute on campus. With
this connection, the student farm group
was finally able to find its way through
the financial hierarchy of Penn State
with the Sustainability Institute guiding
the way.
Produce from the student farm.
Community activities at the student farm.
with the Sustainable Food Systems
Program and the Student Farm. The club
was formed to bring together anyone
and everyone interested in topics related
to food system sustainability, including
food insecurity, food waste, agricultural
production, culinary skills and more.
In 2016, the Penn State administration
approved plans to establish a studentcentered
farm on a one-acre plot of land
located on a very visible site between the
football stadium and the Village at Penn
State. The decision by the administration
came as the result of a year-long
campaign that was spearheaded by Penn
State's Student Farm Club.
First crop harvested
Work began on the farm spring
2016, and the first crop was harvested
the summer 2016. In line with Penn
State President Eric J. Barron's widely
reported goal of creating opportunities
for " engaged scholarship, " the farm was
envisioned to be used as a resource in
interdisciplinary experiential education.
The farm would allow students from
a diverse range of majors across the
university to get real-world experience.
For example, there can be agriculture
Leslie Pillen and the students harvesting crops.
A very major milestone occurred in the
development of the student farm in April
2014, when Leslie Pillen was hired as the
student farm design coordinator. Leslie
started holding visioning meetings with
students and with faculty. In the fall of
2014, a student farm steering committee
was established for working on the farm
program design, and students began
meeting regularly as the Student Farm
Initiative. Throughout 2015, numerous
design meetings were held that included a
wide variety of personnel from the office
of physical plant, farm operations, and
students who contributed independent
research on student farms at other
universities. A Centre County Local
Foods Summit hosted approximately 100
stakeholders across the local food system.
In fall of 2015, another major milestone
was the establishment of the Student Farm
Club, which brought the tremendous
energy of students and their voices
supporting a student farm. The Student
Farm Club is unique and is a great way
for Penn State students to get involved
6 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
students studying sustainable food
systems, to business students helping
with marketing or finance and the
farm's operation will be incredibly
interdisciplinary. The farm is operated
by volunteers from the Student Farm
Club, volunteers from other student
organizations, paid interns, credit interns
and students involved in various courses
related to the farm, all of which is being
coordinated by Leslie Pillen.
other Big Ten schools that have already
established similar student-centered
farms.
Expansion pursued
In 2019, Provost Nicholas Jones
suggested that the Student Farm could
expand at the current location and that he
would provide money (always an issue)
for the overall expansion. A community
check-in with 115 participants was
hosted to gather feedback about the site
expansion and what members of the
community would like to see and what
values were important.
In the summer of 2019, Jones allocated
$400,000 in funding for infrastructure
and an additional 2.4 acres for the
Student Farm expansion, bringing the
total acreage to around 4 acres.
In 2020, in recognition of Keiko
Miwa Ross's $2 million gift in support
of Penn State's land-grant mission to
educate the commonwealth, the Student
Farm at University Park was named the
Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm.
The gift will further the Student Farm's
mission of serving as a living laboratory
for students, providing freshly grown
produce to the campus community
and showcasing innovative sustainable
agricultural practices.
Leslie Pillen's title is associate
director, farm and food systems,
and as Pillen remarked to me, her
position increasingly involves a lot of
administrative work, so at this writing
she was interviewing for two additional
positions - student farm education and
operation manager, and foods system
coordinator - which certainly will relieve
her of some of the day-to-day operation
of the farm.
The Student Farm's success in the future
Leslie Pillen, associate director farm and
food systems.
Most of the crops from the farm
are sold directly to as many as twelve
dining facilities on campus and a limited
community supported agriculture
program, as well as produce given to
local food pantries. Sales to the dining
commons is handled by the Penn State
purchasing department, and the prices
are wholesale prices. The approval of the
farm allows Penn State, historically an
agricultural institution, to join a host of
will be dependent on the continued
student energy generated from the
Student Farm Club and its critical
involvement in promoting the farm.
Also, having faculty with a tremendous
passion beyond their professional duty
will involve courses and students with the
farm that will continue to expose them to
the larger vision of the food system.
Student Farm Club meetings are
held every other week. Recently, they
have had hands-on workshops such as
succulent planting and beeswax wrap,
and speakers explaining topics such as
seed keeping, foraging and a studentalumni
panel.
The Student Farm Club's annual
plant sale is an annual fundraiser. A
portion of the proceeds this year are
being donated to the State College
Food Bank, Saint Andrew's Episcopal
Church's Community Cafe and Centre
Students work in a high tunnel.
County Meals on Wheels.
Other major projects undertaken by
the club are working on the Community
Seed Swap, through a partnership
with Centre Moves and the State
College Borough. At different libraries
throughout the area, anyone can walk
in to leave or take seeds. In addition,
a favorite new initiative of the club
members is their rooftop garden on
campus. Student interns and volunteers
have been hard at work taking care of the
space with all the produce being donated
to the Lion's Pantry.
It took a lot of hard work to get the
Penn State Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student
Farm up and running. It is a testament
to perseverance. It will be fun to watch it
continue to develop and mature. VGN
A student learning to harvest vegetable crops.
Students preparing crops to sell.
http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
August 2021

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