Rising sophomore Amelia Catanzaro hasn’t declared a major yet, but her activities this summer have provided her with a real-world grounding in everything from education to journalism to veterinary science.
A native from Ann Arbor, Mich., who is interested in food systems, Catanzaro is working this summer at Meadow’s Bee Farm in Windham, Vt. through an internship funded by the UVM Office of Engagement.
She’s finding there is really no typical day at Meadow’s Bee Farm.
“Some weeks I lead an agroecology class designed for young children to make connections between food, farming and forest,” she explains. “I’ve also built fences, weeded, harvested, and learned about biodynamic methods and beekeeping.”
Meadow’s Bee Farm is a community based, non-profit operation with livestock, orchards, gardens and an apiary, along with educational facilities including a library, a craft barn and a ceramics studio.
The philosophy of the farm is rooted in the work of Dr. Rudolph Steiner, who sought farm practices that integrate scientific understanding with a recognition of spirit in nature.
This integrated approach means Catanzaro and four fellow interns are learning the many complex systems in a small but self-supporting operation.
Among her other activities this summer: nursing an old pregnant cow and learning to process cows, lambs and chicken with little or no waste.
Perhaps Catanzaro's most lasting contribution is a storytelling projects featuring long-form interviews about the relationship of rural living, identity, and food. She has interviewed a wide variety of people with varying cultural perspectives including an Abenaki chief and a retired NYC steak house chef. She's working on transforming the interviews into long-form narrative pieces.
“This experience has made me realize my passion for reforming the food system in the U.S. in addition to my interest in people’s individual stories,” she said. “Most of all, I have had a blast learning about how the food I eat gets to my plate!”