History of Community Farms Outreach

1990-1994 - A group of volunteers, organized through Food For Free, a Cambridge Food Bank, and coordinated by Oakes Plimpton, begins gleaning area farms for produce to donate to local emergency food programs, soup kitchens and shelters. Interest in the preservation of local farming led to a proposal to farm the fallow fields at the U Mass Field Station site.
1995 - Waltham Fields Community Farm’s (WFCF) first season. Four acres planted on the U Mass fields that had been fallow for seven years.
1996 - Community Farms Outreach is incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)3 charitable organization with a mission of hunger relief, education and farm preservation.
1997 - WFCF Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program created to provide funding for effective farm management.
1998 - Children’s Learning Program created at WFCF.
1999 - Friends of Cornelia Warren Farm (now known as Frieds of Waltham Field Station) was created to advocate for preservation and rehabilitation of the U Mass site.
2000 - First Annual Spring Fling Fundraiser.
2001 - Banner year for produce donations which totaled 27,000 pounds.
2002 - Year round farm manager and assistant farm manager positions created. WFCF CSA sells record 150 shares with still more interested parties left on the waiting list.
2003 - Record number of volunteer hours were logged this year. CFO members, community groups and an AmeriCorps team came to WFCF. They contributed 6000 hours of field labor, and in the process learned about how food is grown.
2004 - Waltham Fields Community Farm expands, farming an additional 3 arcres of land located at the nearby Lyman Estate. Farm staff and volunteers erect a heated greenhouse.
2005 - WFCF celebrated its tenth anniversary. CFO launched a strategic planning process and decided to hire its first dedicated executive director.
2006 - CFO completed the Strategic Plan, hired its first dedicated Executive Director, and had our largest harvest on record (107,000 pounds).

Additional Historical Information