About EECOFarm
A Community Farm for the East End of Long Island Updated: 05/01/07
EECO Farm is a grass-roots, not-for-profit educational organization growing sustainable agricultural enterprises for the health of our community. This is accomplished through education, stewardship, and advocacy.
EECO Farm's programs and operations offer residents and businesses a unique opportunity to invest in the health and future of our community.
Our Mission
- Grow fresh vegetables for the community
- Give children their first farming experience
- Train and employ local youth in agriculture
- Encourage mentoring between generations
- Add organic crop farming to everyday life
- Work with religious, social, and service groups
- Develop educational programs for the public
- Provide sustainable gardening information
- Encourage responsible stewardship of the land.
The Current Situation
In modern American life, agriculture, organic cultivation, and local sustainable food sources are far removed from our daily lives. Our children are growing up with little or no knowledge about where their food comes from. They are estranged from the natural cycles of planting and harvesting, and fail to understand that they are what they eat.
At the same time, in our rural, agricultural community on Eastern Long Island, the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fungicides in agriculture and landscape maintenance have depleted the soils, and chemical residues constitute a real threat to the health of the community.
A Step Toward Solution
EECO Farm operates a community organic farm for the benefit of area residents, in collaboration with the Town of East Hampton, which owns a 42-acre parcel of prime agricultural land across from East Hampton High School. The community farm is an outdoor classroom for learning about sustainable agricultural practices, organic yard and lawn care and how to preserve our natural resources.