Company Helps Student Achieve Mission of Nourishing New Haven’s Neediest
Mill Rock Farm’s Expected Vegetable Yield ¼ to ½ Ton
The typical teenager spends summer vacation in hedonistic pursuit. Not this teenager. Sixteen year-old Malcolm Drenttel, a sophomore at Hopkin’s School, will spend his summer altruistically, growing organic vegetables on a sloping half-acre Whitneyville lot, Mill Rock Farm, for donation to New Haven soup kitchens, to help those less fortunate eat more healthfully.
Malcolm, a frequent volunteer at IRIS, a New Haven organization assisting refugees from conflict ridden countries, learned that vegetables used at most soup kitchens are largely aged and expired supermarket donations that rapidly become nutritionally depleted, diminishing their health benefits. He launched a plan to grow fresh vegetables for soup kitchens, secured a donated lot, and rose funds to buy seeds and supplies. Organic soil, a big cost item, was needed to start the project.
After learning of Malcolm’s mission, Grillo Services, a community-minded Milford based organic recycling landscape supply company, agreed to donate 22 cubic yards of organic soil. Mill Rock Farm is now being planted, by Malcolm, and Hopkins classmates who were recruited to earn community service hours. The produce yield is expected to range from ¼ to ½ ton of vegetables. The vegetables are destined for organizations including the Community Soup Kitchen, the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, and IRIS.
Photos and progress:
http://vimeo.com/millrockfarm/farm
