Great Barrington — With the first in-person Alumni Reunion Weekend since 2019, Simon’s Rock hosted a number of exciting events including the official launch and ribbon cutting of the Center for Food and Resilience.
The Center for Food and Resilience (CFaR) is a new initiative to create a center dedicated to exploring sustainable ways of living, the future of food and agriculture, and community connections, all based on the Simon’s Rock campus. It will include and expand on the existing Center for Food Studies and incorporate the campus Community Farm.
The CFaR Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, held on Saturday, June 3 over Alumni Reunion Weekend, included a tour of the farm with participants gathering and harvesting crops for the salads served with lunch. Provost John B. Weinstein shared his enthusiasm and support for the new Center for Food and Resilience with director Maryann Tebben cutting the ribbon.
“We need this generation to figure out how to solve the problems that are coming,” says Maryann Tebben, Director of the Center for Food and Resilience, head of Food Studies, and Professor of French at Simon’s Rock. “We want to be able to develop flexibility and also a sense of community around solving the problems that are coming down the pike. Namely, climate change. Working with the community in a learning environment with these enthusiastic, positive students, I think we’re going to come up with some wonderful solutions.”
Simon’s Rock launched the Center for Food Studies in 2013 to advance the community’s knowledge of food as a cultural force and awareness of our responsibilities as stewards of a sustainable food system. In addition, the Center hosts an annual conference, ThinkFOOD, which brings together experts in ecology, agriculture, and the culture of food to discuss feeding the community in a sustainable, ethical way.
As a liberal arts college, Simon’s Rock emphasizes cross-disciplinary study, and this applies to the ideation of the Center for Food and Resilience. Part of the Center’s purpose is to reach out to all divisions of Simon’s Rock and craft communal access to the space–ranging from art professors using these spaces to capture still lifes to students crafting sculptures in connection with nature. This is best demonstrated by the Center’s new Garden of Ideas. The Garden of Ideas, in various locations on campus, will connect the current farm acreage to other natural spaces on campus. The Garden of Ideas will feature student and community artwork, sculpture, quotes, and more. It will invite visitors to learn about the campus ecosystem and be inspired by beauty, function, and design.
For more information on the Center for Food and Resilience, visit its website.
