Did you know redesigning agriculture can reduce carbon, and methane emissions without harming the overall economy or the farmlands output? (En-Roads, 2025) Some regenerative agriculture techniques, such as crop rotation prevent soil deterioration and thus increase outputs compared to less sustainable techniques (Skinner, 2022). If agriculture is managed properly it can even combat climate change by sequestering carbon in the soil.
As many of the students at Lawrenceville know, Lawrenceville has the Big Red Farm to supply the dining hall with fresh produce including eggs, and fifteen types of vegetables. This reduces Lawrenceville’s emissions through reducing the shipping. (Lawrenceville School 2025). Lawrenceville also tracks their carbon emissions by dividing them into three different scopes. Scope 1 represents the carbon emissions that are directly facility-related activities, scope 2 represents the carbon emissions that are indirectly facility-related, and scope 3 represents the carbon emissions that are directly related to business travel and commute related. In order to lessen these emissions, Lawrenceville must improve efficiency and improve electrification, lessening the amount of fossil fuels used (Introba, 2024).
To further Lawrenceville’s agriculture sustainability, the school should bring back their transparency of where they source the food not grown at the big red farm. According to Ms. Thompson, there used to be a map in the old dining hall of all the local farms which Lawrenceville sourced. To further sustainability, transparency is vital. It would also help feed into the farm to table movement beyond the boundaries of Lawrenceville. Recently, new market gardens have taken part of the farm to table movement (Rotigex, 2025) and can “grow lots of vegetables with a lot less petroleum per calorie grown, and on less land” according to Mr. Rogers of Princeton Farminary. Lawrenceville partners with local farmers, such as Common Market, for locally produced yogurt. However, making the importance of that known to Lawrenceville’s community would help the community build a connection to its food. Such a connection is key to the farm to table movement (Sustainable Agriculture Network 2024). There are also improvement’s to be made in food not in the dining hall such as house and club feeds, which are currently unsustainable. Some houses, such as the Stephens House, have already started cooking their own feeds in their Heads of Houses’ kitchen. Although it’s a bit more work, cooking in any way saves money, and also gets people nutrients from the source. All in all, if the importance of the farm to table movement was known, then the school’s food culture could shift to supporting the farm to table movement. According to Mr. Rogers, this would boost the local economy and support a healthier local environment.
If Lawrenceville was to further their mission of sustainability through transparency, a shift to more sustainable food outside of the dining hall, and more regenerative agricultural practices, our agriculture emissions would decrease to further offset our scope 3 emissions. To lessen scope 3 emissions–1,836 tons of CO2, Lawrenceville is working on forest preservation, sequestering oxygen through land property, and regenerative agriculture (Aeria Analytics, 2024). In terms of regenerative agriculture, certain farming techniques can improve the health of soil–for example, planting over crops. Soil that is efficient and healthy is able to sequester oxygen from the atmosphere. If Lawrenceville were to use more regenerative farming techniques, they could possibly sequester up to 300 tons of CO2, with a minimum of 40 tons of CO2 (Aeria Analytics, 2024). Although not mentioned in the Campus Decarbonization Strategy, other farming practices, such as silvopasture could also lessen scope 3 emissions. For example, silvopasture is a regenerative agriculture technique in which livestock are integrated into farms, in areas with lots of trees (U.S. Forest Service, 2025). Trees provide shade and a good environment for livestock to stay cool and graze happily. The animals, grazing instead of being put in stables all day, keep the soil naturally fertilized and healthy. Silvopasture would also help offset our scope 3 emissions, as “Pastures with trees sequester five to 10 times as much carbon as those of the same size that are treeless while maintaining or increasing productivity” (Project Drawdown, 2025).
While agriculture emissions may not affect Lawrenceville’s sustainability as dramatically as other changes, every ounce of carbon sequestered or prevented creates a healthier future for the planet. Also, agriculture’s main emission is Methane due to livestock, therefore decreasing agriculture emissions would decrease the Megatons of methane released per year, as shown in the graph below. Every kilogram of Methane prevented is the equivalent of preventing 84 kilograms of CO2 (Climate Change Connection 2020). Therefore the support of silvopasture, through the farms practicing it, is vital. Also, these changes would cost little but as Mr. Rogers said “thinking of the bottom line/net profit is exactly the thinking that has gotten the world into the mess we’re in.”
Bibliography
Image 1: https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/scenario.html?v=25.2.0
“Sustainability.” The Lawrenceville School. Accessed February 25, 2025. https://www.lawrenceville.org/academics/beyond-the-classroom/sustainability
En-ROADS Climate Scenario. (2025, February 5). Climate Interactive. https://en-roads.climateinteractive.org/scenario.html
Skinner, C. (2022, June 22). Using regenerative agriculture to combat climate change. University of Vermont. https://www.uvm.edu/cals/news/using-regenerative-agriculture-combat-climate-change
CO2 equivalents: Climate change connection. Climate Change Connection | Connecting Manitobans to climate change facts and solutions. (2020, June 23). https://climatechangeconnection.org/emissions/co2-equivalents
Network, S. A. (2024, April 9). Farm-to-table movement: Building a direct connection to your food. SAN. https://www.sustainableagriculture.eco/post/farm-to-table-movement-building-a-direct-connection-to-your-food
The market gardener’s fresh take on farm-to-table. Rogitex. (n.d.). https://rogitex.com/blogs/soil-for-humanity/the-market-gardeners-fresh-take-on-farm-to-table Kane, R. F. D. (2024, March 2). Silvopasture. Project Drawdown. https://drawdown.org/solutions/silvopasture
