June 21, 2024
This is one of the rare times you’ll see Matthew Olson indoors. Matthew is the farm manager for the ACC Agricultural Sciences Department’s 17-acre sustainable student farm. The farm at the Elgin campus has a greenhouse, mixed fruit orchard, market vegetable garden, sheep, chickens, bees, livestock, guardian dogs, and a barn cat. Students grow produce year-round and have two weekly farm stands — Mondays at Elgin and Wednesdays at the Highland campus.
Matthew says he embraces the ACC value of Joy because that’s the feeling he and his students share when they’re on the farm. “You really have to come out to see and feel it and to understand, but when you are there you will know, he said.” You can discover the feeling yourself (as ACC’s cabinet recently did!) by volunteering at the farm on Friday mornings.
Matthew’s team has exhibited our value of YES! in collaborations with ACC’s Culinary School for a farm fundraising dinner and the ACC Graphics Art department for farm stand signage.
“Providing our community with healthy, locally grown food is one of our department’s proudest accomplishments and this would not be possible without Matthew,” Agriculture Sciences Department Chair Savannah Rugg said. “He is a kind and patient manager who loves working with students, and always has a smile and a “punny” joke for folks visiting the market. Matthew has made sacrifices and worked overtime to keep the farm functioning during hard times and we really don’t know what we’d do without him.”
Student intern CJ Anderson remembers seeing the farm after a devastating hail storm. “When I saw the damage, I was pretty bummed out and a little discouraged because of the hard work we put into the farm. Matthew on the other hand, stayed positive, kept morale high for the interns/workers, and knew exactly how to handle the situation in such a professional manner.
“Working with him is so enjoyable that I constantly suggest hiring me full-time if the opportunity arises!”
Thanks, Matt, for loving our animals, vegetables, and students to success!
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