Fifteen Bates students, sprawled on the comfortable couches in Frye Street Union, have gotten together to talk about their food-related academic work. It’s “Students Talkin’ About Food” — a March 25 event that’s part of Nourishing Body and Mind: Bates Contemplates Food, the yearlong campuswide look at issues around food. [More...]

The students, participants in the “World Agriculture” course taught by Peter Rogers, will present their findings from research into the operations of Nezinscott Farm, Turner; Avalon Farm, North Yarmouth; and Bell Farms, Auburn.

Each of the farms demonstrates a different agricultural model. Nezinscott Farm, well-known in Maine as an organic operation, practices biodynamic farming that minimizes the use of outside “inputs,” such as fuel and chemical fertilizers, through intensive recycling.

Avalon Farm is a part-time operation specializing in “heritage” livestock whose proprietors, Linda and Scott Routhier, also hold jobs off the farm. (The Routhiers will be present at the Bates event.) Bell Farms exemplifies the changing model of mainstream farming, as it seeks to cut out the middleman in marketing commodities to large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart.