NEXT GREEN LIVING TALK TO FOCUS ON THE FARM BILL

March 25, 2019
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) announces the next Green Living Seminar will take place on Thursday, March 28, with a presentation on “The Farm Bill: What it is and What it Means for Farming in the U.S.,” by Justin Chase, director of Farmer Training Programs at Tufts New Entry Sustainable Farming Project in Lowell.

All Green Living Seminars will take place at 5:30 p.m. in room 121 of the Feigenbaum Center for Science and Innovation on the MCLA campus. Presented on Thursdays throughout the spring semester, this series is free and open to the public.

The theme of this semester’s series is “Sustainable Food and Farming,” which focuses on the past, present, and future of how food is produced and distributed in our region, and strategies for improving the sustainability of our food system.

Chase will discuss how the Farm Bill influences agriculture and food systems in the United States, as well as how often it is renewed, and the politics that are involved each time it is renegotiated.

The 12th generation of farmers on his family’s farm in Newburyport, Chase brings a breadth of knowledge that his family has accumulated and passed down through the past 336 years. His tenure with New Entry began in 2014 while mentoring student farmers and providing technical assistance along their way. In 2017, Chase became the farmer training program manager. He recently took on the role of food hub program manager.

He holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Bradford College in Haverhill, and an MBA from Bentley University in Waltham. He joined New Entry’s leadership team while attending graduate school at Tufts’ Freidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Chase is a policy advisor to New England Farmers Union, and a lobbyist for National Farmers Union. He also is a trainer for the Produce Safety Alliance at Cornell University, and provides instruction for compliance to FDA's Food Safety Modernication Act.

This semester’s Green Living Seminars will take place through April 25. Following Chase’s talk on Thursday, March 28, the next Green Living lecture will take place on Thursday, April 4, when Sarah Gardner, associate director of the Williams College Center for Environmental Studies and a lecturer in Williams’ environmental studies program presents “Land Rich, Dirt Poor: Dairy Farming in New England.”           

Podcasts of this semester’s Green Living lectures will be posted online following each presentation at http://www.mcla.edu/greenliving.

MCLA’s Green Living Seminar Series hosts lectures by local, regional, and national experts. The seminars are organized around a central theme related to the environment and sustainability. The 2019 series is a presentation of the MCLA Environmental Studies Department and MCLA’s Berkshire Environmental Resource Center.

For more information, go to www.mcla.edu/greenliving or contact Traister at (413) 662-5303 or Elena.Traister@mcla.edu.

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) is the Commonwealth's public liberal arts college and a campus of the Massachusetts state university system. MCLA promotes excellence in learning and teaching, innovative scholarship, intellectual creativity, public service, applied knowledge, and active and responsible citizenship. MCLA graduates are prepared to be practical problem solvers and engaged, resilient global citizens.

For more information, go to www.mcla.edu.