Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: CRPE successfully completed the requirements of our project: Training and Development of New Green Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. Our project objectives included: creating a training curriculum for beginning farmers, developing a resource network of experts on San Joaquin Valley agriculture, providing mentoring opportunities for experts and peer-to-peer learning, identifying and securing financing, and initiating pilot projects in Allensworth and Arvin, CA. Support from this grant enabled us to compile a training curriculum for new farmers in rural San Joaquin Valley communities. This curriculum contains trainings such as): planning a community garden, regulatory compliance and certification, irrigation systems and crop planting. The curriculum was tailored to the needs of the communities in which they were presented. The curriculum is a resource we plan to expand and adapt in accordance with the needs of our community members. We also plan to share this curriculum on our website to provide other groups throughout the country access to our training materials. We developed a resource network of regional and state-wide experts who shared training materials, led trainings and provided mentoring opportunities for the new farmers in our targeted communities (see section on participants). CRPE conducted 10 trainings on our own, and we collaborated with regional experts to hold 7 trainings for our target audience. In Arvin our trainings included: how to start a farm, regulatory compliance and certification, irrigation systems and crop planning, soil and fertility, and creating a planting schedule for crops. In Wasco our trainings included: establishing community garden guidelines, plot design and planting best practices. In Greenfield we held trainings on how to start a community garden and establishing garden guidelines. In Shafter we conducted trainings on establishing garden guideline, functioning administrative structures, and planning garden plots. We collaborated with allies on the following trainings: October 2011: starting a community garden (Karen Bays, UC Davis), January 2012: community panel that included the following topics: understanding county regulations when starting a pilot project (Kathy Malouf, Kern County Planning Department), how to start a garden (Linda Robredo, Green Dragon Organic Farms), farm irrigation and planting (John Karlik, UC Davis Cooperative Extension), farming certifications and their benefits (Jennifer Stilwill, Department of Agriculture), March 2012 and April 2012: soil quality, planting and irrigation (Joe Nunez and Blake Sanden, UC Davis Cooperative Extension), May 2012: rock dust as organic fertilizer (Azomite Organic Products), September 2011: planting a community garden in Allensworth (Steve Ptomey, Allensworth Historic State Park Ranger). These trainings were held in 5 different communities: with 50 unique individual participants and many individuals who attended multiple trainings. Also, two CRPE staff members attended the California Coop convention in April 2012, and three staff members attended a training at Life Lab Garden Class room in June 2012 in Santa Cruz. PARTICIPANTS: For this project we collaborated with partner organizations who contributed both to our trainings and in developing our curriculum. These partners include: UC Davis Cooperative Extension, Life Lab Garden Classroom, the City of Bakersfield, Kern County Agricultural Commission, Kern County Health Department, Azomite Organic Products, Green Dragon Organic Farms, ALBA (the Agriculture & Land Based Training Association), UC Davis Children's Garden Program, Kern County Call to Action, and Tom Frantz (CRPE Advisory Board member and farmer in Shafter, CA). Additionally, we collaborated with many partners who donated in-kind materials to our pilot projects, including: the Governor's Office (donated land for Allensworth Community Garden), California Secretary of Food and Agriculture (met with community leaders about the need for farmworker owned co-ops in the San Joaquin Valley), the City of Shafter (donated water for garden), Richland School District in Shafter (donated land for garden), US Irrigation Systems (donated water pipes for Arvin and Shafter gardens), Bakersfield Recycling Center (donated free compost), Small Farmers Cooperative of Eugene, Oregon (mentorship for farmers), California Center for Cooperative Development (mentorship for farmers), Rockhills Farm (provided tour of their farm), South Central Farmers (mentorship for farmers), Pastor Rogelio Ramirez from Shafter (shared use of a tractor to prepare land for gardening in Shafter), Parks and Recreation office in Shafter (provided information on affordable insurance options), and the Arvin Water District (supported a water connection for the community garden). CRPE staff who worked on this project (and were specifically funded by this grant) include: Assistant Director Lupe Martinez (Project Director), Director of Organizing Gustavo Aguirre, Community Organizer Juan Flores and Staff Attorney/Legal Fellow Camille Pannu. Lupe Martinez oversaw the development of the curriculum and managed the organizing staff who provided the community trainings. Lupe attended many of the trainings and provided knowledge and leadership to this project as a former United Farm Workers organizer and farmworker in the San Joaquin Valley. Gustavo Aguirre and Juan Flores conducted CRPE's trainings, organized residents in the pilot project communities, and put together the training curriculum. Camille Pannu provided technical and legal expertise to CRPE's community organizers and to the community groups in Arvin, Wasco, Shafter and Allensworth. Camille provided significant support towards building a regional and state-wide network of partner organizations and collaborators for this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for this project are immigrant farmworkers and low-income people of color in the rural San Joaquin Valley. The pilot project locations have been specifically selected due to their proximity to socially disadvantaged beginning farmers, the groups that expressed desire to initiate projects in their communities. Specifically CRPE collaborated with community groups in the following places: Arvin (Committee for a Better Arvin), Wasco (Residents in the Service of a Healthier Environment), Greenfield (Greenfield Walking Group), Allensworth (Allensworth Progressive Association), and Shafter (Committee for a Better Shafter). While California ranks as the top agricultural producer in the U.S., the Valley generates over 70% of the state's entire agricultural revenue. Unfortunately while the Valley is hailed as one of the most productive and wealthy agricultural regions of the country, it also ranks last in the nation for income, education and health outcomes due to extreme levels of poverty, chronic unemployment, environmental degradation, health disparities, and lack of civic participation (2009, Measures of America: American Human Development Report). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Allensworth: In Allensworth community members are using land adjacent to the Community Center (approximately half an acre) for their organic community garden. This project started in the Fall of 2011, and this summer they had their first harvest. In this project two community members, Denise and Kayode Kadara (graduates from ALBA), shared their farming expertise with the rest of the community residents. Community members are also allowed to use 3 plots for their organic gardening within the Allensworth Historic State Park per a unique public-private agreement with the State. Shafter: In Shafter the community members are using approximately 4 acres of land that belongs to the Richland Elementary School District to develop a community garden. As of today the community members have created a committee that will oversee the activities in the garden, they have developed rules and guidelines for this garden. Arvin: In Arvin the community members are using approximately one acre of land to develop a garden. As of today the community members have created a committee that will oversee the activities in the garden, they have developed the rules and guidelines for their garden. In September, the committee broke ground and currently four plots are planted. Wasco: The community's residents in Wasco have been unable to acquire land to establish their community garden. We are exploring opportunities for trained Wasco residents to begin farming in unused portions of Shafter's community garden. Wasco residents continue to be motivated to see their pilot project start as soon as possible, and we strongly believe that this will happen in the near future. Greenfield: At the beginning of 2012 we offered Greenfield Walking Group (GWG) support to start their community garden, and the City of Bakersfield has offered them land. CRPE is providing trainings along with stakeholders pertaining to Greenfield's needs.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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