Growing a Better Middlebury One Initiative at a Time

Author: Chris Howell and Bennett Konesni

Editor's note: The authors of this article are the founders of the Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development.
Imagine a campus where students are able to grow some of their own food, generate electricity while working out and even help fuel campus vehicles by eating french fries at Proctor. If Middlebury Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD) gets its way that campus will be Middlebury.
This new student organization examines ways to integrate environmental, social and economic thinking into improving Middlebury College and the surrounding community. The group seeks to work cooperatively with students, faculty, administrators and area community members while emphasizing hands-on involvement.
"Hands-on" takes a new meaning when it comes to things like the Middlebury College Organic Garden (MCOG), the largest and most successful project initiated by MISD to date. Starting next spring, a large group of students, staff and community members will be getting their hands dirty volunteering to grow a small amount of the vegetables eaten weekly in Middlebury's dining halls and commons dinners. A beautiful three-acre knoll in the large field just west of Bicentennial Hall holds the small plot that has been recently plowed and planted with rye to protect the soil until next spring.
The garden project began over a year ago by the inspired work of students with a hankering to work the soil. After a great deal of planning, field trips and some excellent slow-food style dinners, students convinced the College administration that the garden would fill an important void on campus. The garden will not only yield food, but a connection to the Middlebury landscape, strong community and a venue in which to examine the "good life."
This question is at the center of MISD's ideology. We envisioned the organization in the spring of 2001 during the rigorous but inspiring lectures of Geography Professor Tamar Mayer in her class The Geography of Development. After examining questions regarding quality of life and sustainable development, we realized the need for an organization that would help students create local projects aimed at developing a better Middlebury. By collaborating with campus and community members and an inspired student body, the group spearheaded an effort to promote and build a more sustainable Middlebury College from the ground up.
The organization grew quickly. MISD now has over 200 students, faculty and staff, as well as local townspeople. Last May, the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership presented the "Outstanding New Student Organization" award to MISD.
MISD also seeks to redefine sustainable development as a strategy relevant to Middlebury College and community. Broadly and technically speaking, MISD defines sustainable development as balancing economic, environmental, and social/cultural concerns in creating systems of production and consumption. This somewhat dry, complex and loaded definition springs to life when applied right here at home.
Thus MISD emphasizes local change to reflect this definition. The group's ambitious plans include an electricity-generating exercise room, a system to recover lost dishes, a small maple sugaring operation, biodiesel production and a yearly fair to promote local and self-sustainability.
Topping the list of MISD's current programs is the organic garden. The garden hopes to help the local economy by experimenting with new growing methods that could be used locally. No pesticides, genetically modified organisms or chemical fertilizers will be used on the site, and an extensive perennial forest garden will produce tasty food. Finally, the garden will aim to bridge the gap between the College community and the local community through volunteerism, community gardens and involvement with local schools.
By attempting to balance local economic and social development while promoting environmental stewardship, MISD has found an ingenious way to encourage sustainable development here at Middlebury. And judging by the crowd at the garden groundbreaking, we'd say the movement for local sustainability will only grow from here.