Jennifer Taylor coordinator of the Small Farms Program was appointed to the National Organic Standards Board. Taylor will start her term Jan 24, 2011 to Jan 24, 2016.
Wednesday’s press conference held in Lee Hall Auditorium introduced Taylor as the new appointee.
“I am excited about the opportunity to continue to serve Florida A&M, our farming populations and its consumers communities, and to participate and contribute to the National Organic Standards Board”. Taylor said.
The Small Farms Program was created at FAMU in 2006. The history of the Small Farm Program was working with the farming population; since then the long term goal of the program is to become bio-diesel.
“We have 2 path ways going, the first one, where we take collection of used vegetable oil as bio resources, the other is to make bio fields, we have the change to provide fuel, and provide fuel for farm equipment and tractors…providing energy for schools and homes,” Taylor said in response to how the program will affect students.
The Small Farms Program and Organic Standards Board are uniquely sustainable to our environment and beneficial to our community announced as an important statement at the conference. The program will involve student initiative from the college of Architecture & Design and FAMU Engineering & Technology department.
“I think it’s a good image for FAMU, in the long run it will beneficial because it’s cost efficient for students in the future and better for our environment,” said Ashley Webster, a second-year nursing student from Miami. “It’s one-less problem that future generations have to worry about.”
“The students will help look at the sustainability of the whole concept and the efficiency of the model,we have been doing bio-diesel for years,” said Taylor. “Observing and testing the concept is how we need the students help.”
FAMU’s Small Farms Program was one of the five schools to receive a grant from the ‘2010 College Community Challenge’ including, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, Lawrence Technology University, and Carey University. Ford Motors Company assisted five schools with a grant of 50,000 each. The national contest allowed schools to plan a proposal on how they could make the community better. The grant will assist the program with funding with the organic farming concept in farms and schools.
“The project with FAMU is that they were thinking about the next level,” said Michael Schmidt, director of Education and Community Development of Ford Motor Company. “The difference is work. Work done on one farm, means we can do work on 100 farms.”