This Saturday saw the 7th annual Farm Harvest Festival taking place at Case Western Reserve University’s spacious farm. Organized by the Student Sustainability Council (SSC), it was an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and other community members to have fun off campus in the great weather, and learn about sustainability on a personal and university-wide level.

The annual festival featured free hayrides, a petting zoo, flower crown making, beeswax lip balm making, farm tour guided hikes, a tall grass maze, grape tasting and more. Food options included local benefactors like Mitchell’s Ice Cream, and even crickets for the more daring attendees. Though there was a large turnout, everyone found an activity they could enjoy—whether it was a cornhole tournament, pumpkin raffle or watching CWRU student performers on stage.

The SSC’s plan for the event seems to have been successful. Second-year Aman Shankardass mentioned that his favourite part of the festival was the petting zoo. The animals were absolute characters and put smiles on stressed students’ faces. With a turnout that included a variety of CWRU members, the farm festival helps the community become more cohesive overall and get off of a campus that may become stifling to explore CWRU’s farm. Aman mentioned he loved the beauty of the farm showing the first signs of the coming fall season, and that it was a welcome breath of fresh air.

When talking to the Vice President of the SSC, Hannah Shernisky, it was mentioned that the committee was a bit apprehensive about attendance with the storm on Friday. Fortunately, more than 1,000 people showed up, even though the electricity had been knocked out over large parts of Cleveland. The SSC usually starts preparations months in advance, and always tries to get other student groups involved in order to get a diverse group of people in attendance. 

The SSC has tried to incorporate an educational component in most of their organized activities, such as the make-your-own lip balm activity, in which they try to showcase the benefits of a more sustainable product when compared to mainstream mass-produced products. Another favorite is the guiding hike, where community members can explore more than 400 acres of the farm. Hannah mentioned the CWRU farm was a big selling point as it usually flies under the radar for students. For Hannah, what makes the festival worth it is that it becomes a good memory and experience for everyone involved.

As an ad hoc committee of Undergraduate Student Government, SSC tries hard to get the community more excited about their sustainability goals and implementing sustainable principles in their day-to-day life. SSC’s other big event is RecycleMania, a month long initiative to educate the CWRU community about proper recycling techniques, culminating in a carnival with free food and games to bring people together in the spring semester.