Berea College
Tier2-5: Sustainable Enterprise

At the College Farm, a business and marketing core team was piloted in spring of 2009 at the recommendation of former office manager, Sarah Paulson, who saw in the complex workings of the Agriculture office a valuable source of student work experience. This fall marks the first official season of the team, but in past years students have chosen to participate in office activities that relate to their special interests. Marketing duties include updating the college farm’s online store with product availabilities and managing the market revenue for all enterprises. Business takes on a public relations slant with the promotion of emerging products and the publication of a weekly electronic newsletter. But perhaps the most important experience this enterprise offers occurs at the BC Farms market stand Tuesdays and Fridays year-round, when students sell the products of their own labor: meat, produce, potted plants, flour, honey, and specialties such as bread, jam, pesto, and salsa. These processed products are developed by students who participate in the value-added internship, which has run for the last two summers and yields marketable foods from the farm’s raw products.