The Lexington Community Farm Coalition (LexFarm) has awarded two scholarships that will cover conference fees to attend the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Summer Conference in Amherst, Mass. from August 12 – 14.

The award recipients are both actively involved in farming in the community and are also both actively pursuing further education related to farming.

Jane Hammer, an Arlington resident, has been involved in farm advocacy, volunteerism, education, and paid on-farm employment in the Lexington area for over 10 years. She has worked to help preserve the Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester as a community farm, was involved as a shareholder, site host and volunteer at Picadilly Farm in NH and supported Waltham Fields Community Farm as a board member, volunteer, through homeschooling educational field work, and as a CSA shareholder. Jane has expressed particular interest in the NOFA conference offerings on Permaculture, Transition Town, and Community Supported Agriculture tracks.

Lauren Yaffee is based at Meadow Mist Farm in Lexington, where she is responsible for animal care, sales and customer relations. She is also a student in the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project at Tufts University. Lauren has been to several previous NOFA conferences and plans to use what she learns in the continuation of good land stewardship and with teachers and students sharing her knowledge about integrative, sustainable farming practices and animal husbandry.