The strategy of sustainability for Kean Liberty Hall Farm Xinyi Chen& Tyrone Carter B.A.

Advisor: Thomas AbrahamABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

MATERIALS and METHODS

RESULTS CONCLUSION

Sustainable Results:In order to become a self-sustaining farm, a number of new innovations have been proposed for Liberty Hall Farm in order to be profitable and sustainable.

Unsustainable Results:Liberty Hall Farm utilizes a black mulch system to reduce weeds and pests accordingly to reduce the needs for labor., Negative impacts on the use of black plastic:Difficult to recycleLow utilization with an increasing wastes that typically goes to landfills Increase the volume of runoff by 40% and erosion by 80%Affect environmental and human health by increasing the concentration of using herbicides and pesticides. (Beyond)

 

In-Process Plans PurposeDeveloping a Visitor Pavilion with wood fired pizza oven

Become a Kean rental and create an income stream for the farm.

Building a self-guided garden Increase visitors’ engagement and decrease the time that staff dedicating on tours accordingly increasing the productivity of farming.

A juice bar Increase the utilization of the farm by using the unused parts of current of current and future crops

Shiitake Mushroom project Sell mushroom with the brand of Liberty Hall and become a consistent supplier of Whole Food Market.

A crops and labor tracking application Increase the rate of efficiency on buying seeds and forecasting the future cost.

Reference

Case Study Research Method Data Collection

• Interviews with key associate staff• Secondary research data• 2014 LHF end of season report

Analysis• Story telling • Categorizing result as innovations and share

value• Shadow reporting

According to Porter & Kramer (2011), shared value is created by reconceiving products and markets, redefining productivity in the value chain, and building supportive industry clusters at the company’s locations. In this case study, we are interested in:-Is Liberty Hall Farm creating share value?-Why did Liberty Hall Farm chose to go sustainable?-How did the farm plan on achieving sustainability?-Are there any innovations driven by the strategic vision of sustainability?

Liberty Hall Farm is a medium-sized farm which supplies the people in Union County with fresh vegetables. We chose to delve in and research how has a local cluster Kean University established with Groundwork Elizabeth and Liberty Hall Farm creating share value. We collected data by using the Case Study Research Method which provides a in-depth &detailed examination of our topic: LHF. The results for LHF is new up-to-date concepts and practices which will make Liberty Hall Farm profitable and more sustainable.

Beyond Black Plastic. (2014, April 4). Retrieved March 16, 2015, from http://rodaleinstitute.org/beyond- black-plastic/Eccles, R. G., and Serafeim, G. 2013. "The Performance Frontier," Harvard Business Review (91:5), pp 50-60.Ghauri, Pervez. “Designing and Conducting Case Studies in International Business Research” Chapter 5.Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., and Rangaswami, N. R. 2009. "Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation," Harvard Business Review, pp. 57-64.Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011, January 01). Creating Shared Value. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from https://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating- shared-value

Liberty Hall Museum was built in 1772 on the eve of the American Revolution. 

Kean University bought the Liberty Hall Farm (LHF) in 2008, providing a farm-to-table experience for Ursino the campus restaurant.  

Groundwork Elizabeth began a partnership with LHF in June 2014.

LHF began working with the small business consulting club in Fall 2014.

Jackie Park Albaum, Farm Director, plans to create a shiitake mushroom project in April 2015 and is working with Tyrone and Xinyi to conduct market research.

LHF partnered with Territorial, Johnny’s, Baker Seed, three seed companies that have a great, environmentally minded business model.

  

School of Global Business, Kean University , 1000 Morris Ave, Union 07083, NJ

We conducted a case study for Liberty Hall Farm by interviews the Farm Director, Jackie, Park Albaum. We collected the data necessary for the case study and as a result Liberty Hall Farm is following Porter& Kramer’s idea. Liberty Hall united with Kean University and Groundwork Elizabeth to create a local cluster to make Liberty Hall Farm more sustainable and Productive. Also Liberty Hall Farm partnered with three environmental seed companies to redefine productivity in the value chain. Finally in April 2015, Liberty Hall Farm will be adding new crops like the Shiitake mushroom to reconceive products.