PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Roots Rising recently received a $200,000 Cultural Facilities Fund grant to help build a new farm and education center.

 

"To have MCC and MassDevelopment believe in our vision and make a tangible commitment to our young people, our local food system, and our community is so meaningful to us. It validates the work we have done and the future we are building together!" Executive Director and co-founder Jessica Vecchia, said in an email.

 

In February 2024, Roots Rising purchased 6.5 acres of land at 923 Barker Road as an investment into building a farm that will serve its mission of empowering youth and sustaining community. 

 

"We've been searching for land for many years. We've been in deep, deep conversation with the community, with the teens in our youth crews, about their hopes and dreams for this farm and education center. So we are thrilled to finally be turning this dream into a reality," Vecchia said.

 

"This project responds to urgent needs: expanding food access, creating meaningful employment opportunities for youth, and strengthening our local food system. It will also serve as a gathering place for community building, hands-on learning, and collective action."

 

The plans involve two buildings, "The Shop" for equipment storage, a workshop, space to repair farm equipment and other uses. The second will be "The Hub," what Vecchia described as "the heart of our campus."

 

The Hub will house the education center, have a wash/pack area for produce and cold storage space. There will also be a commercial kitchen that will be used for value-added products.

 

"For instance, tomatoes that we might not be able to sell at the farmers market, they're a little bit beyond what we could sell, and turning them into tomato sauce," Vecchia said.

 

"This space will also be available for rent. There are a lot of food entrepreneurs in the community that don't have access or affordable access to commercial kitchen space for their needs, and so this will be made available to the community as well."

 

The Hub will also host youth culinary classes as well as community classes and opportunities for leasing. An existing structure, the Main House, houses Roots administrative offices. 

 

The organization plans to add community supported agriculture, or CSA, program and housing for farm apprentices.

 

"We will have on site housing, which we're really, really excited about, for farm apprentices," Vecchia said. "Housing, as you know, is a challenge here, I mean everywhere, but also here in the Berkshires, and so we want to make sure always that our programs are as accessible as possible." 

 

The farm will also be able to grow plants longer and earlier with the help of a propagation house, a "climate battery" greenhouse that uses the heat from the earth. Full Well Farm installed one in 2022.

 

"It extends the growing season for us, which is especially important here in New England, because we have a short growing season," Vecchia said. "So this will allow us to start earlier, grow a little later, and have more produce available in the winter months."

 

Construction is currently underway with the hope to have the greenhouses, the Hub, and the Shop constructed by the fall.

 

"Alongside land preparation work, this will set the stage for 2026 to be our first year of small-scale production on the farm," Vecchia said. "From there, we'll continue to develop the property, expand programming, and eventually renovate the Main House."

 

That structure, a Tudor-style dating to the1840s, will eventually be renovated and expanded.

 

"For now, our big priority is to get the infrastructure built for the farm and so that we can be in production, hopefully in 2026 and begin to have the space, safe and accessible space for community programming," Vecchia said.

 

The total budget for the farm and education center is $5 million. The organization has currently raised $2.5 million including the grant and is currently running a capital campaign to raise the balance.