In wintertime, the ARI campus typically gets quiet. Participants have returned home, the farm fields are frozen, and ARI community members recharge while preparing for the next class.

This year, however, the ARI community was abuzz with a different type of learner: college students from St. Olaf College, based in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. Undergrads specializing in environmental science and Japanese area studies, the students came for a winter session special class on environmental issues in Japan, and ARI played the host for two weeks of the course.

St. Olaf students learned about the history of ARI as an institution and its environmental philosophy grounded in sustainable, regenerative farming. They got hands-on experience exploring soil health, such as when they made their own natural fertilizer, bokashi, a technique they hoped to apply on the St. Olaf campus when they return.

The students also visited the Nasu region to study elements of Japan’s environmental history. ARI staff brought them to important sites along the Nasu canal, which first opened the region to agricultural development over 150 years ago, and to several regional farms of varying sizes. The students learned the background and current status of Fukushima prefecture and the impacts of the nuclear power plant meltdown, and heard about the history of organic agriculture in Japan.

Their stay at ARI was not simply a study trip, however. The students joined in all aspects of the ARI community life, including helping cook meals and assisting with farm work. They cleaned carrots, treading on wheat, and more. They enjoyed the ARI life so much, they ended their two weeks stay by hosting a pizza party in the ARI dining hall, Koinonia!

ARI is deeply grateful to St. Olaf for visiting our campus and breaking bread with us as part of their studies.

If you’re interested in planning a study program at ARI for you or your students, contact us today!