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Co-president Merry Fossel (left) and Vista volunteer Greta Huff at the Morris Farm in Wiscasset on Sunday, July 26. Morris Farm recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, a milestone that many said when the farm began would mean it was here to stay. (Abigail Adams photo) |  |
Agricultural educator John Affleck shows off winter crops planted by Wiscasset students before the end of school at the Morris Farm in Wiscasset Sunday, July 26. When the students return to school in the fall they will be harvesting those vegetables as part of Morris Farm’s on-going work with local schools. (Abigail Adams photo) |  |
Morris Farm’s administrative assistant Pat Cloutier (left) and husband Russell Cloutier volunteer at the Morris Farm Store in Wiscasset Sunday, July 26. The store is installing an EBT system and will be participating in a grant program that will provide extra benefits to those purchasing fresh produce with foodstamps. (Abigail Adams photo) |
By Abigail W. Adams
The Morris Farm Trust formed 20 years ago to save one of a dwindling number of farms in Wiscasset. The group of concerned citizens that formed the trust to preserve the 50 acres on Route 27 was told, “if the nonprofit can survive its first 20 years, it’s here for the long haul,” founding member Seaver Leslie said in a press release.
On July 23, community members gathered on Morris Farm to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary. The vision for the farm 20 years ago was for the property to serve as a community hub that would bring together diverse individuals to learn about farming, gardening, and stewardship of the earth.
Morris Farm has gone through several incarnations in its lifespan. After two decades, the farm has not only fulfilled its original mission; through its diverse programs that support local agriculture and a new focus on food security, the farm stands poised to serve as a leader where agricultural, environmental, and social issues intersect.
Merry Fossel, co-president of the Morris Farm Trust, has been involved with the farm since its beginning. “Being a small nonprofit is a continual challenge,” she said. “It really comes down to the membership.”
Through the commitment of the membership, Morris Farm has weathered two decades of trials and tribulations. Through partnership with the Maine Farmland Trust, Morris Farm’s 50 acres were designated a Forever Farm approximately five years ago and will forever remain protected agricultural land.
Morris Farm supports new, up-and-coming farmers by renting land for cultivation and to pasture livestock. The farm also rents plots in a community garden and operates the Morris Farm Store, which features meats, produce, crafts, and bath-and-body products from local farms and artisans.
Morris Farm also recently launched a community-supported agriculture model for fishermen and arranged for individuals to buy weekly shares of fresh fish from Port Clyde. “This is part of our work supporting local farmers and local agriculture,” Fossel said.
Morris Farm’s work in local agriculture has evolved to encompass the fields of education and environmental and social activism as well. Morris Farm hosts Farm Camp each summer, an outdoor summer day program for 4- to 11-year-olds.
John Affleck recently assumed the role of agricultural educator to work with local schools. The program was previously run through cooperation with Focus on Agriculture in Rural Maine Schools, but is now a Morris Farm program.
The farm is part of the Wiscasset School Department’s summer program for 32 K-8 students. Through hands-on work in the gardens on the farm, students are learning about math, science, and writing.
“The kids are engaged,” Affleck said. “They’ve got their hands in it. They see the peas; it’s tangible. It brings color to their learning.”
Affleck has worked with the Wiscasset Primary School and with the high school’s alternative education program to teach students about sustainability, ecology, and becoming stewards of the earth.
Primary school students planted winter crops such as carrots, potatoes, and winter squash before adjourning for the summer. They plan to harvest those vegetables when primary school students reconvene at Wiscasset Elementary School in the fall.
“This is something the kids are going to carry with them,” Affleck said.
Approximately three years ago, Morris Farm incorporated food security – ensuring access to quality, nutritious foods for at-risk individuals and families in Lincoln County and beyond – into its mission. “It was a natural evolution of what we do,” Fossel said.
According to Fossel, Lincoln County has one of the widest income gaps in the state, with one of the highest income levels from investments but one of the lowest income levels through salaries and wages. Waldoboro and Wiscasset also have two of the highest rates of students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch in the state, Fossel said.
Despite the statistics, Lincoln County is one of the last counties in the state to form a food policy council to address food security issues, Fossel said – something Morris Farm and friends hope to change.
Morris Farm is addressing food security issues and working to ensure no one goes hungry through a variety of programs. The farm maintains a demonstration garden for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program.
“It was the best course I’ve ever taken,” Fossel said. Through the program, participants not only learn basic agricultural skills, they are also required to volunteer. The vegetables grown in the demonstration garden are donated to Harvest for Hunger, which distributes fresh produce to food pantries throughout the state.
The Morris Farm recently became part of the AmeriCorps VISTA program, a national service program designed to fight poverty. Greta Huff arrived at Morris Farm approximately one year ago as a VISTA volunteer with the mission of aligning Morris Farm’s programs and services with the promotion of food security.
Huff searched the country for a job opportunity that fit her particular interest in the intersection of health and agriculture. She found the Morris Farm.
In partnership with the Chewonki Foundation, Huff helped organize the first conference on food security in Lincoln County, which brought representatives from every local organization working on food security issues together, Huff said. Morris Farm also hosts educational workshops for families through the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The Morris Farm Store is also in the process of installing an electronic benefit transfer system so individuals receiving food stamps can purchase fresh meat and produce with them, Huff said. The store will also soon participate in a grant program that will provide extra money for those who buy fresh produce with their benefits.
“Hopefully this will help make (organic produce) more affordable and reduce the expense that comes along with the nature of the product,” Huff said.
Tackling food security issues is a challenge and reaching the population that is truly in need is difficult, Huff said. “The broad success that we’ve had is the interest that the community has shown in getting involved and helping to solve these issues,” she said.
The Morris Farm is also exploring hosting a solar energy farm on its property and opening a charter school focused on farming, fishing, and forestry as educational tools, Fossel said.
The Morris Farm Trust formed 20 years ago to “benefit the community as a place where all kinds of people could come together and learn about farming and gardening and taking good care of the place they live,” Leslie said. Twenty years later, Morris Farm has accomplished all that and then some and established itself as an organization that is here to stay.
