TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie
Farm Project, a member-supported farm in the Town of Poughkeepsie, has
signed a new 25-year lease with Vassar College, owner of the property
upon which they have operated for the last 16 years.
Vassar will be paid $1,000 per year for the lease on the 10-acre farm.
Farm project Executive Director Lee Anne Albritton said the extended lease will afford the group the opportunity to make infrastructure improvements on the property.
“What we are doing is amazing we are doing without year-round water; we are doing it without hot water,” Albritton said. “We are doing it without bathrooms; we are doing it without a working kitchen, etc., so we are looking to create all of those facilities so we can operate and service more.”
Mark Schlessman, chairman of the board of Poughkeepsie Farm Project and
a biology professor at Vassar, said the new agreement assures that the
Farm Project will continue to educate Vassar students, Poughkeepsie school
children, and the entire area about the benefits of healthy, locally grown,
organic food.
