At the end of Daniels Road in Clarksburg, Mass., near the bottom of a mountain, is a flat, open plot of land. Michael Gallagher ’06 first visited the property several years ago, looking to start a community supported agriculture (CSA) program.

The CSA model—in which members purchase shares of a farm in winter and then receive a portion of crops as they are harvested throughout the year—allows farmers to disperse risk and to develop strong relationships with the people who join. But the shares needed to keep a farm running can be expensive and often must be paid for in a lump sum. As a result, “CSAs tend to get focused on affluent populations,” says Gallagher. As an aspiring farmer, he remembers wondering: “How do we serve the needs of the people here?”

Gallagher graduated from Williams the same year the Food Bank of Westsern Massachusetts released the results of its yearlong study of North Berkshire County. Among the findings, 11 percent of households had experienced moderate or severe hunger in the previous year. Nearly 20 percent of households had limited access to nutritious food.

Target:Hunger, an offshoot of the food bank that included several Williams students, began exploring ways to address the problems highlighted by the study. One idea that took root involved creating a CSA for low-income families, something Kendell Newman ’08, would research with fellow seniors in the 300-level workshop “Environmental Planning,” taught by Sarah Gardner, associate director of Williams’ Center for Environmental Studies. Their work ultimately evolved into a plan by Hoosac Harvest group, an outgrowth of Target:Hunger, to subsidize up to 85 percent of the cost of farm shares for low-income families and arrange for participants to pay the remainder in small installments or with food stamps.

In looking for a farmer to work with their model, the group found Gallagher, who launched Square Roots Farm two years ago. Serving low-income families “is definitely not something we’d be able to do if not for Hoosac Harvest group,” says Gallagher, who also puts out a box at each pickup for members to donate portions of their produce to local food pantries. “It’s great to have that be a part of the farm’s identity right off the bat.”

Read more about Michael Gallagher ’06 and Square Roots Farm in the January 2012 Williams Alumni Review. (For the text-only version, click here.)