Liberty University Encourages Sustainable Agriculture through Campus Farm, Raising Livestock

by Rachel Casdorph

Crop fields at the Morris Campus Farm

Liberty University is paving the way in educating students in sustainable agriculture, as evidenced by the recent developments made by their highly successful Campus Farm, which now not only raises crops, but livestock as well.

The Morris Campus Farm received a great deal of attention lately, mainly due to the new addition of animals to the farm, beginning now with just chickens, but expanding to cows and pigs as well in the future.

“I think that one of the biggest reasons [for the attention] is that news coming from Liberty is usually about construction, or sports news—so this is something really different,” Campus Farm manager Alicia Cripe said.

According to the Washington Times, the farm plans to sell the organic meat to Liberty faculty and staff, and hopes that this will be the start of a booming new venture.

The farm holds multiple purposes for the Lynchburg community and Liberty student body, from education to ministry and outreach.

Kyle Herrington, the events and education coordinator at the farm, says that they host many different workshops and culinary events, and even display documentaries and hold panel discussions revolving around sustainable agriculture.

Aside from education, the farm also sells their produce to local Lynchburg restaurants, and even Sodexo. Their produce is also available at the campus farmer’s market.

A peak inside the process

In the spirit of generosity, the farm also donates much of their produce, and sells some of it at a reduced cost through the organization Lynchburg Grows, which gives lower-income residents access to affordable fresh food.

Formerly known as the Campus Garden, at a time when they used to only raise crops, the Campus Farm was started back in 2012 by Cripe, who began a job at Liberty directly after interning and working at multiple farms.

“My inspiration was knowing that a lot of other universities have campus farms, I had started to see it, hear about it. I got involved here at Liberty and I could hear God saying ‘Start a garden here!’” Cripe said.

Following her calling, Cripe proposed the idea, and the farm has been a great success ever since. According to Cripe, the mission of the farm is to help students to see the earth as a gift from God, and see the importance of good stewardship and sustainable agriculture

“I definitely think it is a Christian issue. We’re called right out of Genesis to be put in charge of the earth. God put us in charge right from the beginning, to care for the earth, and I think that became more difficult with the Fall of man, but it’s still our duty,” Maria DeFosse, president of the campus environmental club Students for Stewardship, said.

Looking ahead to the future goals of the farm, the Liberty Champion explains how the farm hopes to use cows and chickens in a method of rotational grazing in the pastures, which will help enrich the farm’s poor soil.

No matter what changes lie ahead, the Campus Farm’s three main goals, explained by Cripe, remain the same:

⧫ Education: teaching students and the community proper techniques for sustainable farming

⧫Ministry: teaching simple growing techniques that can be used anywhere in the world, even on the mission field in other countries

⧫Community: to be a place where students will want to visit often, and feel engaged

Promoting a Christian worldview, even in agriculture