The Elon Environmental Center at Loy Farm

A student weeds inside the high tunnel greenhouseThe Loy Farm is an initiative of the Center for Environmental Studies located on the historic Loy Family property. The farm is a half-acre, small, intensive teaching and research farm that provides sustainably grown produce and food system education for Elon and its surrounding communities.

The farm collaborates with a variety of students, professors and community members. Humanities, social science, and natural science courses all utilize the farm as a living classroom, and it hosts the research projects of students and professors alike. In addition, the farm gives back to Elon Students walking through wheat field on a tourUniversity and the larger Burlington community by providing produce to Elon Dining, Elon Campus Kitchen and Allied Churches. At its core, the farm works to promote community outreach and experiential education, champion sustainability and conservation, encourage research, and support student initiatives.

Loy Farm was purchased by Elon University in 2000. It was used primarily for storage and biology classes until 2011 when the Agroecology program was introduced, increasing opportunities for student engagement. By 2012, students had begun plowing, building deer fences, constructing a high tunnel and building new partnerships across Elon.

Today the farm continues to grow with the addition of a new high tunnel and propagation space, expanded perennial and annual crop footprint, improved teaching barn and, most importantly, full-time staff to help lead the Farm in becoming an example of sustainable, equitable food systems in the South.