Meet Liam!

Blog Post One: Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Liam Roberson. I am a junior at Florida State University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. I am originally from Palm Beach, Florida, but now I am based in Bradenton, sharing with Tallahasee because of school. 

For my summer experience, I am fortunate to be travelling to Church Farm Aderely, in Stevenage, United Kingdom. During the summer, I will work on a locally run farm, doing several different jobs around the farm. For my research, I will be looking at how in the United Kingdom, locally run farms can use eco-friendly sustainable farming practices, and how the United Kingdom manages to not develop farmland in the extreme way we see in the United States and especially in Florida. I am looking to understand why other countries, such as the UK, have managed to keep the integrity of farming land on an island with limited space and how this could influence American farming practices and communities. This research ties into a community-based interest: how having an honest local farm can foster and grow the community around it. Working hands-on at Church Farm Aderely will not only give firsthand knowledge and experience to my research but help me understand the interactions, history, and future between a farm and the community. I will likely be interacting with the people who run the farm as well as getting the community outside the farm and how the local farm helps foster and engage the community. The different tasks range from helping the farm’s general store, where they sell their products, to horticulture, which, from what I understand, is working with crops and other goods. Other tasks will be working with animals and helping out on the camping grounds which the farm has for different activities just as festival days on day camps during the summer. 

I am a little anxious about getting to the farm as it is a little hard to get to, especially in a country I have never been to before. It could be worse as I speak and read the language, and people there can guide me to the farm. I was only given a broad understanding of the different tasks I would do at the farm. I am ready for everything, but I know it will be a culture shock since I have only done farm work for less than three days at a time, and not working with animals. I am not sure how people at the farm and the community of Church Farm Aderely and Stevenage will react to my asking questions for my research. I do expect the experience to be fun, as working on a farm for two months will be a welcome change from academics. I expect to grow from this experience as I will be a long period of activities that are completely foreign and labor intensive. I am excited to learn about the different aspects of farming life and how this local farm model could influence American farming practices and communities.

Picture of me before going to England and working in the farm.