Worthy Cause: New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

In our search for the ultimate local eggs, my husband and I stumbled across the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP) at Tufts University. This program "was originally founded to assist socially-disadvantaged immigrants, refugees, and asylees with agricultural backgrounds 're-enter' agriculture in Massachusetts," says Jennifer Hashley, better known as Jen of Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds. Today, NESFP helps anyone who's interested in starting a farming business, even "gringos." My husband is planning on attending the Explore Farming! course at Tufts someday (when the girls are consistently sleeping through the night, and we have enough brain to think about such things).

Right now, NESFP is trying to raise money to purchase a new Mobile Poultry Processing Unit (MPPU), a movable chicken slaughterhouse. Currently, if you're a small farmer raising chickens, you have to bring your chickens to a large commercial slaughterhouse and pay to have them processed for you, but these slaughterhouses are few and far between. With an MPPU, farmers can slaughter the chickens at their own farms and sell them directly to their local customers, reducing transportation and processing costs and ensuring an incredibly fresh bird.

A month ago, my husband and I donated $500 to this worthy cause, and we did so at just the right time, because last week, Pete and Jen hosted a dinner at the Beacon Hill Bistro for all donors who contributed $500 to this cause (more on the dinner later). We actually got to sit next to Jen and discuss local, sustainable farming and the needs of the New England farming community. The MPPU will vastly improve the independence and sustainability of many small farmers, who tend to use far more humane and healthy chicken farming practices than large, industrial companies. It will also encourage more people to start small farms and raise high quality chickens in our local area.

If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, you can donate online through the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Please scroll to gift designation 3 and specify that you would like your donation to be directed to the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project or NESFP.