Innovation in the Field: Chatham University’s Living Organic Laboratory

Written by Maggie Saska - PCO Certified Organic, NE TOPP Education & Outreach Coordinator

Just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Eden Hall Farm is at the center of an exemplary site of diverse land use demonstrating fundamentals of agroecology and organic agriculture. This satellite location for Chatham University, not only serves as a living laboratory for students at the university, but also members of the community at large, having meaningful impact beyond the classroom. At the heart of this work are professor, Dr. Laura Livingston, and farm manager, Indira Alcantara. Students learn on farm production from both leaders in the classroom and production spaces. Beyond the farm, Indira serves as a mentor in the Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP) working with a mentee, looking for support for their orchard production. In late September, 2025, TOPP education and outreach specialists visited the campus farm, and toured the diverse growing areas with both inspirational professionals.

In 2014, Chatham University opened Eden Hall Farm just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university, formerly known as Pennsylvania College for Women, drew inspiration from alumna Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring. Carson’s work also inspired Eden Hall as an academic center that serves as a model for sustainable living, including sustainable approaches to water use, energy, air quality, climate, food, and agriculture.

The property encompasses over 400 acres, and supports classwork for 40 classes. In this living laboratory, the farm boasts diverse certified organic growing areas that all function as outdoor classrooms for student and community development. Eden Hall Farm is certified organic by PCO Certified Organic. The produce grown on the farm is either used within the Chatham community or sold or donated to local non-profits throughout the Pittsburgh area.

During our visit, we toured these diverse areas and had a deep discussion on the role of the farm in the education of students, the local organic community & other farmers. We also touched on farmer Indira’s role as Farm Manager, and reflections on being a part of the TOPP mentorship program in 2025.

The center of farm activity is focused on the “solar high tunnel.” This space is minimally heated by energy captured through a solar panel display and stored in a specialized system.

This space allowed for in-ground growing, which continues throughout the winter months with the production of greens. The half of the greenhouse that is not used for in-ground growing has a concrete pad with areas set up for seedling production and post-harvest handling, including wash basins for produce. In this space, the farm’s focus on careful record keeping is apparent.

Students grow transplants, harvest vegetables year-round and learn about the importance of recordkeeping for organic and GAP certification.

Crops harvested at the farm are distributed locally with the help of student staffing. Approximately 50% of what is grown is sold to the dining hall on campus, with the remaining 50% distributed to local food security programs.

Dr. Livingston has worked closely with the chefs in the dining hall to assess the needs of their operation. By reviewing produce purchase records, initially Dr. Livingston was able to identify for the chefs what Eden Hall Farm could produce and supply right from the farm. The needs of the dining hall are the driving force in crop planning. Working closely with the dining hall also meant that it was important to the University that the farm applied for and received GAP certification in 2025. Over time, with dining hall staffing changes, has meant that many of the chefs are open to taking whatever is in season for use on campus.

Produce that is not sold to the dining hall goes to local outlets or even to on-campus students in need. Dr. Livingston has also worked closely with nonprofits to collaborate on projects such as SARE grants, supporting produce aggregation across the city of Pittsburgh. Other diverse income streams for Eden Hall focus on specialty crops collaboration. Indira is particularly proud of her high tunnel ginger production. After a fall harvest, the crop is sold to a local distillery to produce ginger whiskey.

Organic education is at the heart of the farm, and they have the recordkeeping practices to back it up. Indira impresses upon the student workers recordkeeping is key to realizing the connection between organic practices and the importance of documentation, in verification during certification process. Beyond organic certification, the farm holds GAP certification which has been essential for their on-campus sales to the dining hall.

Because of the continual introduction of new students and workers through the seasons, Indira is continually training farm workers on recordkeeping. During the months of September, January, and May she focuses on training with the start of new semesters and summer break. To better manage the recordkeeping process, Indira identifies one student to serve as the recordkeeping point person. The point person needs to be detail oriented and have careful follow through.

Indira and Dr. Livingston shared that while they’ve tried different types of recordkeeping systems, the most reliable system for the farm is to record all records on a Google Drive based spreadsheet shared with the students. While Indira admits this system is not the most efficient, it is the most transferrable and easily understood.

The system was initially developed by a student and incorporates the use of drop downs to make it easier to record repetitive information like crop varieties, locations, quantities, etc.

Working with the challenge of continual training, Indira shared the following tips.

• Keep it simple. Choose a recordkeeping system that you can use and easily update.
• Consider your strengths.
• Have a recordkeeping lead among staff or students.

Mentorship for Indira has been a natural extension of the education work done at Eden Hall Farm. Indira signed up for the TOPP mentorship program upon the suggestion of Dr. Livingston. After application, Indira was paired as a mentor with a farmer seeking mentorship advice for her orchard. To date, most of the communication between mentor and mentee has been virtual. Indira has been able to answer questions and make recommendations based on real experience. Mentorship has been a valuable one, allowing Indira share and the mentee to benefit from hard-earned knowledge and reasoning.

Indira cited that one of the most rewarding aspects of being a TOPP mentor has been the ability to give real-time feedback. For example, when Indira’s mentee reached out with questions regarding weed management in the orchard, Indira was able to quickly provide information and help her mentee course correct in real-time. Indira was able to share new ideas and advice with a fellow farmer, allowing her to pay her knowledge forward into the farming community.

Organic certification has been critical to Eden Hall Farm. Indira stated certification is important to consumers and producers, allowing others to be able to trust in their growing practices. She sees that caring for resources, water sheds and the soil are fundamental to how they treat the farm ecosystem. At the farm, students see the reality of working in an organic system. Dr. Livingston echoed these perspectives, adding that building robust organic farming communities and community supported agriculture is part of a bigger movement. Eden Hall is hard at work on several levels, bringing organic practices into their community.

Our farm visit came at a time when the region was experiencing a long, dry summer. When asked about organic in the future at Eden Hall, they see organic as critical to adapting to changes in climate and weather. Dr. Livingston stressed that the resilience of organic systems and their role in carbon sequestration are key tools to address these changes. To prove the case, Dr. Livingston also has a keen interest in collecting and analyzing data related to farming. She sees it as critical to step back, reflect, and ultimately improve agricultural systems in the future. She also hopes that someday, organic may incorporate more responsible social elements, such as considering the impact of organic on people, labor conditions, and making organic more accessible. Farmer Indira hopes to see organic grow and reach more consumers. Indira would love to see subsidies supporting organic production, and that healthy food can reach more people.

Both Dr. Laura Livingston and Indira Alcantara will continue their work and share their valuable knowledge. TOPP has been fortunate to be a part of this process, connecting these organic farmers to the larger community.

For more information on the TOPP program visit www.organictransition.org

For more information the Eden Hall farm www.edenhallfarm.chatham.edu

Image Captions:

Image 1: Indira Alcantara discusses ginger propagation in the high tunnel.

Image 2: Solar high tunnel with peppers.

Image 3: Tomatoes growing in the high tunnel show labels with planting dates.

Image 4: Dr. Livingston explains the benefits of using field tarps as ground cover.

Image 5: The Chatham Eden Hall Farm recordkeeping spreadsheet shows important production details, such as field location.