Ithaca College

The Sustainability Café on Monday, April 1st will feature Erick Smith and Anne Riordan from Cayuga Pure Organics exploring the question: “Small Scale Farming: Can It Be Sustainable?”  The Café will be held in Center for Natural Sciences Room 112 at 4:00PM, in conjunction with the Environmental Seminar. The Spring 2013 Sustainability Café/Environmental Seminar series is focused on our local food system. 

Erick Smith, co-owner and founder of Cayuga Pure Organics, and Anne Riordan, head of farming and milling operations, farm some 600 acres of organic grains and beans that are distributed to farmers markets and restaurants locally and in New York City. In 1976, Smith, a former math professor, purchased 135 acres of land locally on which he began to organically farm – a radical idea at the time. Since then, Cayuga Pure Organics has become a place where a new generation of farmers can practice “alternative agriculture” and gain practical education in good farming skills. Riordan met someone who worked at the farm and she instantly fell in love with the concept. She began working in the beanery, then moved into fieldwork, and currently manages the farm’s fieldwork.

“Teachable edibles” – local, organic and/or seasonal snacks – for the Spring 2013 Sustainability Café series are being sponsored by Ithaca College Dining Services whose motto is “Sustainability – Healthy – Fresh.” Please bring your reusable mug and fill up at the nearest drinking fountain or provide your own beverage of choice.

This event is free and open to the public.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Marian Brown at 607-274-3787 or mbrown@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.

Drink in a new way to think in the Sustainability Café.