New MIT Farm initiative seeks to connect community members with agriculture
Aleks Banas ’27: “As we’re building this vision for physical spaces, we’re also building the support network”
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
Photo Provided by Zachary Rapaport
The MIT Farm initiative, which launched this fall, aims to bring community members to green spaces and green spaces to community members. Their flagship programs include student volunteering sessions at local farms, a weekly community-supported agriculture (CSA) “Fresh Food Bag” popup, and a modular miniature mobile farm prototype.
On Oct. 4, The Tech spoke with Aleks Banas G, Zachary Rapaport March G, and Kahlen Wheaton ’27, three members of the MIT Farm executive team. Banas and Rapaport stated that they were inspired to bring agriculture to the Institute after participating in the MIT Civilian Climate Corps program, a collaboration between the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), the Department of Architecture, and the Urban Risk Lab.
The members of the executive team worked with Professor of Anthropology Heather Paxson, who teaches 21A.155: Food, Culture, and Politics. In July, Susy Jones, a Senior Project Manager at MIT’s Office of Sustainability, sent Paxson an article about federal funding cuts affecting Hannan Healthy Foods Farm in Lincoln. Jones put Paxson, who had brought her class to the farm in an earlier semester, in contact with Rapaport and Banas. They worked together with the Hannan Farm team to organize the farmstand and volunteering initiatives.
Through MIT Farm, the organizers hope to create a vibrant student organization rooted in a passion for fresh food. In addition, they seek to accelerate momentum for the creation of physical growing spaces on campus, buoyed by robust partnerships with MIT units and outside farms. “As we’re building this vision for physical spaces, we’re also building the support network,” Banas said. She described a future on-campus farm as a “teaching space” where volunteers could teach each other how to grow food and spearhead their own agricultural initiatives.
The organizers also aim to make a broader societal impact through food. Noting the prevalence of food insecurity on campus, they emphasized the importance of providing healthy, local, affordable, and sustainably-grown options. Rapaport added that this model could serve both as an exchange of knowledge and an exchange of land. “There’s so much opportunity to reorient the property that MIT owns toward the community, rather than holding it as an asset for the Institute,” Rapaport said.
Miho Mazereereuw, a professor in the Architecture department who leads the Urban Risk Lab, said that the MIT Farm initiative is “starting small with a big vision that can scale. It’s scrappy and entrepreneurial — distinctly MIT.”
In their first month of operations, MIT Farm has already gained some traction. From Sept. 13 to Oct. 5, the initiative sent 97 volunteers to nine sessions at Hannan Healthy Foods Farm, the Rooftop Farms at Boston Medical Center (BMC), and Eastie Farm in East Boston. Volunteer tasks vary, but common duties include planting, harvesting, mulching, washing, and packing produce.
Sarah Hastings, the manager of BMC Rooftop Farms, expressed excitement about MIT Farm’s involvement in BMC’s efforts, citing the Center’s ambition to “inspire other institutions to integrate physical food production spaces that enhance education and awareness around food systems principles, nutrition, and sustainability.” She hopes that the urban agriculture community in Boston can continue to flourish through future collaborations.
MIT Farm has sold over 150 Fresh Food Bags, mostly within the first 30 minutes of each two-hour sales period. These packages come from a partnership with Hannan Healthy Foods Farm, one of the volunteer sites, and are sold at the Stata Center through a partnership between MIT Farm and the Office of Sustainability. The group will have two more sales this semester, for a total of six.
Each harvest box is sold for $10, but the box contains $20 of fresh, organic produce, including napa cabbages, shallots, tomatoes, and poblano peppers; half of the cost is subsidized by MIT. Leftover food is donated to the Cambridge and Somerville Programs for Addiction Recovery (CASPAR) shelter near Ashdown House.
Standing at the Fresh Food Bag stand on Oct. 6, volunteer Islam Genina G opined, “Healthy food is what makes us feel good in our bodies, and being part of a system that makes that possible would be great.” He praised the “hands-on experience” of volunteering.
Mohammed Hannan, the founder of Hannan Healthy Foods Farm, told The Tech that he hopes to replicate the farm stand model throughout communities in Greater Boston. “Together, we’re working to build a more resilient, inclusive, and equitable local food system,” Hannan said.
Paxson echoed this desire, stating, “I would love to see a campus-based model of Community Supported Agriculture develop that would supply organic produce to our FSILGs and dorm kitchens as well as the farmstand.”
In the weeks ahead, Banas, Rapaport, and Wheaton hope to learn more about seasonal farming practices as they gear up for the winter. Banas stated that “continuing the exchange” between MIT and local communities remained their top priority.
Vivian Hir ’25 MEng ’26 contributed to reporting on this article.