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.
