Fairfield Farm reconnects ‘the human element’ to nutrition

Bridget Lawrence-Meigs is the farm manager and programs director at Fairfield Farm.
Photo by Taylor Plett
Bridget Lawrence-Meigs is the farm manager and programs director at Fairfield Farm.
LAKEVILLE — Harvest is in full swing at Fairfield Farm, the 287-acre farm and cattle pasture owned by The Hotchkiss School and located just a mile from campus in Lakeville.
Peppers and tomatoes are crowding the vines in the hoop houses while corn dries in the Grange, a multi-purpose structure that serves as a storage facility, teaching kitchen, ad hoc classroom and concert venue.
With classes back in session as of earlier this month, Bridget Lawrence-Meigs, the farm manager and programs director, is ready to get students involved.
“The farm is this place that, like a lot of campus farms, has a mission,” said Lawrence-Meigs. “At Hotchkiss, it’s very much about production and education.”
Acquired by the school in 2004, Fairfield Farm has become a major producer for Hotchkiss’ dining hall and today supplies 20-25% of the produce and 100% of the beef served on campus each fall.
According to Joshua Hahn, Hotchkiss’ assistant head of school and director of strategic initiatives, the farm fits into the school’s broader efforts over the past several years to reduce its carbon emissions.
“The school’s grass-fed beef has a much lower carbon footprint than conventional beef,” said Hahn. “So decisions we’re making in terms of where the food’s coming from [have] an impact, not just nutritionally and economically, but also on the climate.”
Beyond a full-production farm, Hahn said the space acts as an “interdisciplinary laboratory for the school.” Teachers and visiting instructors have utilized Fairfield as a classroom “en plein air,” teaching on topics from English and social science to engineering. One group of engineering students designed an overhead irrigation system for seedlings; another designed a composter.
For Lawrence-Meigs, a seasoned educator and co-leader of a gathering of campus farms called the Campus Farmer Network, the farm is an opportunity to make complex dimensions of the food system more tangible for students.
“One of the big problems with our food system is that the human element is often lost,” she said. “Like, who grew this tomato?”
By involving students in multiple steps of the food production process, Lawrence-Meigs says the farm can foster conversations about the “social, environmental, and political” aspects of food production both on the farm and off.
The goal is “helping the kids really understand that the farm isn’t in a bubble, and food systems aren’t in bubbles,” she said.
As part of that education, students can help harvest the roughly 10% of Fairfield Farm’s product that gets donated to groups like The Corner Food Pantry and Northeast Community Center, which work to alleviate hunger in the communities surrounding Hotchkiss’ campus.
According to a study by Connecticut United Ways, 10% of Connecticut residents said they experienced food insufficiency in 2022: a statistic due in part to the 25% increase in U.S. food prices between 2019 and 2023, as reported by the Consumer Price Index.
At Hotchkiss, where the student body represents 31 countries, food security and sustainability are issues that resonate.
The Hotchkiss Food Access Society, a student group which works with the farm, was formed by a student who learned about food insecurity in Ghana and wanted to help address similar issues in Connecticut.
For other students, engagement with the farm may be limited to two visits over their four-year tenure: the annual potato harvest for first-year students and senior prom, which is held on the grounds. Hahn hopes that, for these students, the visibility of farm-grown food at the dining hall will invite critical thinking about what they eat.
“We’re not going to graduate 175 seniors who are gonna go on to be farmers next year,” he said, offering politics and business as more likely career paths. “But everybody eats. As Wendell Berry says, ‘Eating is an agricultural act.’”
LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.
Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, George, include son, George R. DelPrete II, daughter, Jena DelPrete Allee, and son Stephen P. DelPrete. Grandchildren; Trey, Cassidy, and Meredith DelPrete, Jack, Will and Finn Allee, and Ali and Nicholas DelPrete.
A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, Lakeville, on Saturday, Oct. 4. May she Rest in Peace.
Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in care of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.
Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.
She was raised on her parents’ poultry farm (Odge’s Eggs, Inc.).
After graduating from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she worked at Litchfield County National Bank and Colonial Bank.
She married the love of her life, John, on Aug. 16, 1969, and they lived on Sharon Mountain for more than 50 years.
Shirley enjoyed creating the annual family Christmas card, which was a coveted keepsake.She also enjoyed having lunch once a month with her best friends, Betty Kowalski, Kathy Ducillo, and Paula Weir.
In addition to John, she is survived by her three children and their families; Sarah Medeiros, her husband, Geoff, and their sons, Nick and Andrew, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Shelby Diorio, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Addie, Lainey and Lyla, of East Canaan, Connecticut,Jeffrey Perotti, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Annie, Lucy and Winnie, of East Canaan. Shirley also leaves her two brothers, Edward Wilbur and his wife Joan, and David Wilbur; two nieces, three nephews, and several cousins.
At Shirley’s request, services will be private.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Sharon Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, PO Box 283, Sharon, CT 06069.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.
Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.
Ronnie is survived by her daughter, Jaime Silvernale (Wm. MacDaniel, Sr.) of Millerton, her beloved grandson, Wm. MacDaniel, Jr.; two special nieces, Shannon and Rebecca and a special nephew Sean Hosier. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brother, Bradley C. Hosier, Jr. and her dear friend Ruth Fullerton of Millerton.
Visitation was private. A celebration of Ronnie’s life will be held in the future. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family or to plant a tree in Ronnie’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.
This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.
For those unfamiliar with Crescendo, the award-winning organization was founded in 2003 and brings lesser-known works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods — along with contemporary fusion pieces — to new life. Its performances often blend classical composition with nontraditional instrumentation for a refreshing new take on an established body of work.
Gevert, who is German, Chilean and American, is a conductor, keyboardist and musical scholar. As the multi-national, multi-lingual (German, Spanish and English) creative director, she is a veritable whirlwind of talent, professionalism and inspiration who conceives of new musical treats for her audiences. She also hires and nourishes local talent, sources internationally known vocal and instrumental professionals, and provides her audiences with well-researched program notes for each concert, packaged in lush, full-color programs that resemble illuminated manuscripts.
“It is the excitement about and dedication to the music, along with the prerequisite vocal and instrumental talent, that characterizes a Crescendo member,” said Gevert. “I don’t care about things like how old or young you are or where you’re from — it’s all about bringing these performers together to provide unforgettable musical experiences for its audiences.”
“Traditional audiences for classical music performances tend to skew older,” Gevert continued. “For that reason, I’ve embarked on an effort to reach younger listeners, and have done things like taken a Crescendo choral group to perform at Housatonic Regional High School. I’ve also launched an effort to recruit and train young singers in Baroque singing techniques so they can perform with our existing choral group.”
The upcoming 2025-26 season includes, among other performances, a solo recital and benefit concert on Nov. 22 by the international Baroque opera star and countertenor Nicholas Tamagna. The curated program will include works by Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.
Two dazzling Christmas concerts follow: on Dec. 6 and 7, Crescendo presents J.S. Bach’s “Sweet Comfort” cantata and Mass in G minor, featuring the full chorus and soloists with a period instrument orchestra. On Dec. 21, the annual Holiday Concert will be presented: “A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols,” with the entire Crescendo vocal ensemble and Gevert on organ.
For the full schedule, concerts details and ticket information, visit: www.crescendomusic.org