“Solutionaries at Pennypack Farm focus on growing local produce to provide to the community, as well as farming education so others can grow produce sustainably,” writes Public Health students Vasavi Veerapaneni ’22M, MPH, Talia Williams ’20MPH, Emily Delnero ’22M, MPH, and Ashleigh Kozicz ’22M, MPH in an article about Pennypack Farm in Horsham, Pa. The article was based on an interview conducted with Kirstie Jones, farm manager at Pennypack.

Focusing on Pennypack Farm’s balance between growing fruits and vegetables and educating the community, the students explore what sustainable agriculture is and how it works. Through Pennypack’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, community members help care for the farm in return for fresh produce each week. In addition to the CSA program, the farm also hosts educational programs for all ages that focus on farming techniques, healthy eating, and minimizing food waste. In order to reduce their own food waste, Pennypack collaborates with Rolling Harvest Food Rescue and three local food pantries to donate any surplus fresh produce.

This interview was conducted as part of the YES! Solutions Pilot Project, a multimedia project competition hosted by the YES! For Teachers magazine. Lindsey McGann, administrative manager of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies and instructor for the “Community and Environmental Health” Public Health course, submitted for the class to participate in this program in 2019. Arcadia was one of three universities selected, with a total of nine projects selected for participation.