Despite learning about the change only recently, students interviewed expressed excitement about the possibilities that might emerge from closer interaction between the Organic Farm and sustainability groups.
"To me, the Sustainability Office is kind of an umbrella for other groups, and so far this format has been pretty efficient," said Vickie Pan '16, a member of the Environment Conservation Organization and co-director of the Dartmouth Coalition for Climate Change. "If it's under the Sustainability Office, it's a good thing."
Pan said that directorate meetings, where leaders of different "green groups" discuss their plans for future individual and collective action, are a particular advantage that student groups can gain from work with the Sustainability Office.
"If there wasn't an office, we'd just be multiple green groups doing our own thing," Pan said.
Students praised the organizational umbrella offered by the Sustainability Office, which will expand further with the inclusion of the Organic Farm.
"I think for students looking to get involved with the O-Farm, there's a first instinct to get in touch with the Sustainability Office," Eco-rep Shreya Indukuri '16 said. "It's great that there's now a home base for people to go to if they are interested in anything sustainable."
While zoning regulations had previously restricted certain uses of the farm, a recent amendment passed by the town of Hanover on May 14 paved the way for Dartmouth to take greater advantage of the farm as a resource, said Krystyna Oszkinis '14, a farm volunteer and former intern who worked with the Sustainable Living Center.
"A lot of it was dependent on zoning and what the purpose of the farm could be," Ozskinis said.
Under the new regulations, the farm may be used for agricultural and ecological research that requires real-world conditions. The transition to the Sustainability Office will pave the way for education and research on food and energy systems, sustainability and ecology. Previously, the College was prohibited from hosting classes or conducting research on-site, but the change allows for greater institutional use of the farm.
"I feel like that's the direction the farm is going, more as a food and energy center," Oszkinis said. "We're excited for what that partnership could be."
The Organic Farm has been run by students since 1996 and is expected to maintain this structure as it merges with the Sustainability Office.
The transition to relocate the Organic Farm's administration follows last fall's barn-raising, which has heightened the connection between the Organic Farm and other green groups. Located three miles from campus, the newly-renovated farm serves an off-campus meeting place for sustainability and social justice groups.
"This is a great moment for the farm," sustainability director Rosi Kerr said in a press release. "We see huge potential to grow the mission and impact the farm has on Dartmouth's campus, in the Upper Valley and beyond."
