BY MADDI ACHTYL
If you ever want to hold a chicken, head to The Farm. Holding a chicken is normal for
those who attend The Farm Friday’s volunteer hours and those who visit. And that is just what I
got to do when I visited.
A late addition to Stonehill College’s campus, The Farm at Stonehill was established in
January 2011 on two acres of the Ames Family's land.
The Farm's founder was Bridget Lawrence-Meigs, but it is now run and operated by
Laurie Mooney. The Farm was established in response to the food access issue in its neighboring
city, Brockton.
“Our president at the time was over in Brockton and was witnessing the need that some
of the communities in our surrounding area had and was trying to think about what we could do
to make it to create some positive impact,” said Laurie Mooney, Farm Director.
The Farm’s mission is to help combat food deserts by making fresh, nutritious, grown
local food for Brockton area food pantries and meal providers and educating and actively
involving Stonehill staff and students in local and global food justice concerns to strengthen their academic and service initiatives.
“Our mission remains in that our goal is to bring access to nutrition for all people,” said
Mooney.
The food grown on The Farm goes to many different food pantries across Brocton and
Easton, including Patients at Brockton Neighborhood Health Clinic, My Brother's Keeper,
Easton Food Pantry, the Family Resource Center in Brockton, and Father Bills.
The community aspect is what it is all about, said Lawrence-Meigs in the Stonehill
Alumni Magazine in 2011. The Farm encourages community engagement. Students, faculty,
staff, and alumni are always welcome and appreciated.
From March to October, emails are sent out weekly asking for volunteers to visit The
Farm every Friday. Activities volunteers help with can include weeding, planting, and much
more!
At the 60th Commencement, the Class of 2011 chose to give their Legacy Gift to The
Farm at Stonehill. $7,260 was donated by 102 members of the Class of 2011.
With the money donated by the Class of 2011, The Farm was able to purchase a scale to
weigh produce and a large salad spinner to wash and dry greens. The rest of the funds were used
to install an outdoor washing station, plant a reflection garden, and start the Legacy Orchard in
the Fall of 2011. The Legacy Orchard is filled with trees that graduating classes can plant as the
years go by.
Laurie Mooney took over as the new Farm Director in 2022, and came to Stonehill with
over 12 years of experience with organic, regenerative agriculture systems and an understanding of farm operations.
Since Laurie Mooney took over the farm in February of 2022, the newest additions to the
farm include laying hens and an underground irrigation system.
The underground irrigation system created more efficiency in watering the farm.
The crops grown on the farm include herbs like basil, rosemary, cilantro, sage, parsley,
lavender, and Mint. Greens like lettuce, kale, and spinach, and fruits and vegetables like berries,
squash, flowers, tomatoes, eggplants, and melons.
Currently, the only animals living on the farm are the 16 laying hens, which produce
farm-fresh eggs, and the honey bees, which produce honey for the community.
The laying hens also eat the compost brought over by maintenance personnel from Roche
Dining Commons. This allows the chickens to produce a sustainable protein source in their eggs,
which Mooney is able to sell at a reduced rate to organizations and communities in need. The
chicken manure can also be used to fertilize the vegetables.
“Having small animals on the site is helping to close loops and create more of a
regenerative farm. Otherwise, we rely on outside inputs for compost and fertilizer,” said Mooney.
The next additions to the farm hope to be deer fencing, which will keep predators from
eating the crops and ruining all the hard work that the volunteers have put in.
“I don't think that the farmer before me has had had as much deer pressure, but with
urbanization, it is bringing a lot of deer and predatory pressure onto the farm,” said Mooney
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