Aladdin Dining Services Staff will manage the new composting efforts. L to R: Dining Services Director Mike Ferguson, Crystal Wade, Jonathan Steen, Barry Wallace, Levi Briggs, Jackie Briggs, Clay Britton, and Courtney Pittman.
Ferrum, VA, November 18, 2021 — Faculty and staff members at Ferrum College are working together to restart the College’s composting program, which will eventually encompass a work study program and a course practicum for students.
Aladdin’s Jonathan Steen empties a bucket of raw food waste into the composter. This cycle’s batch will be ready to use at the end of December.
The masterminds behind the endeavor are Aladdin Campus Dining Food Services Director Levi Briggs and Ferrum’s Assistant Professor of Biology & Horticulture Clay Britton, who also manages the College’s hydroponics lettuce program. Aladdin, which provides meals on campus, purchases produce from the hydroponics program.
“Clay and I met a few times, mostly concerning the hydroponics program and Aladdin’s commitment to buy produce through that program,” explained Briggs. “During one of our discussions, we broached the subject of the composters. Clay wanted to find a way to get them running again. I thought it would be great for Dining Services to partner with the College to start something important, reducing landfill waste and maintaining sustainability.”
Several years ago, Ferrum College began a composting program; however, lack of time and resources caused the program to be discontinued.
Two large composters are located at the College’s Pole Barn near the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, where much of Ferrum’s recycling is stored. In early September, Briggs spent his personal time after work for about a week cleaning out the barn so that the composters could be operational again.
Aladdin’s staff is overseeing the composting process and has partnered with Elegant Woodworks’ local custom cabinet shops, which provides the sawdust used in the composters. Although the plans are still in the works, Briggs and Britton envision the compost being used at Titmus Agricultural Farm and around campus in flower beds, herb gardens, and more.
Learn more about Ferrum’s agricultural sciences program here.
Kyle Sturgis ’11
It’s no secret that farmers are used to a certain level of stress: crops are affected by too much heat, too much rain, insects, markets, and more. But Shore Breeze Farms in Northampton County, VA, which supplies hydroponic lettuce and other produce to local restaurants and schools, encountered a different kind of stress when COVID-19 closed area businesses.
Ferrum College alumnus Kyle Sturgis ’11 serves as the manager of Shore Breeze Farms, which was opened in 2019 by his father Steve, who has been professionally farming since 1979. At the time of the farm’s start-up, Sturgis was a location agronomist for a company that sold crop inputs (like fertilizer, seed, and chemicals) to local farmers.
“I was blessed to have that job since graduating from Ferrum in 2011. After eight years with that company, I decided I wanted to do something else with my life,” explained Sturgis. “I always had an interest in hydroponics and my father shared that same interest, so I came back to the family farm.”
Though mostly family-owned and operated, Shore Breeze does maintain a few employees and is offering a new intern program this season. Sturgis, who has a degree in horticulture and environmental science, oversees the hydroponic greenhouse facility, field crop operation, and the farm market.
“One of the challenges of my job is selling and marketing our products through social media, online, and through conventional sales techniques,” said Sturgis.
But when COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, the farm had to adopt some unconventional sales methods.
‘When COVID first started spreading in early spring, it was like someone put a brick wall up,” said Sturgis. “There were more questions than there were answers.”
When COVID-19 prevented local restaurants, schools, and farm markets from opening, Shore Breeze’s sales dramatically dropped off. So the farm got creative.
“We had to come up with another avenue to sell our lettuce, so we started online sales and curbside pickup. That sparked the idea of offering salad kits,” said Sturgis. “Now we offer a kit that has everything to make a delicious and fresh salad, including the croutons!”
This summer, Shore Breeze Farms received a $15,000 grant to continue expanding its hydroponic facility which will increase the farm’s production of leafy greens by thirty percent. This grant was Governor Ralph Northam’s first Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund grant awarded to Northampton County.
“It is exciting to see homegrown companies like Shore Breeze Farms harnessing new agriculture technologies to bring fresh, local vegetables to their communities,” Northam said. “Shore Breeze Farms has long been known for innovative product offerings, and I am especially proud to see how they are branching into new markets during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis to offer pre-packaged salad kits to Virginians on the Eastern Shore.”
“I believe that it is so important to advocate for agriculture, as the average person is four generations removed from the family farm,” explained Sturgis. He stays active on several local and state boards and committees, serving as the chairman of the Virginia Farm Bureau’s State Young Farmers Committee which allows him to sit on the State Board of Directors for Virginia Farm Bureau; and as a director for the Virginia Soybean Association. He also won a seat as a director of the Eastern Shore Soil and Water Conservation District in 2019.
“The year 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone in the agricultural industry but farmers are resilient and will get through this,” he said. “But we’re looking forward to 2021!”
Sturgis and his wife Emily reside in Cape Charles, VA.
Read more about Shore Breeze Farms at their website here.
Learn more about the grant received by Shore Breeze Farms in this July 2020 Shore Daily News article.
