Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:3 students seved as "SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassadors" in the Fall 2024semester. Like the previous year, the program shifted in Spring 2024--- we collaborated with Cal Poly Pomona's campus dining services to help them achieve their goal of sourcing 15% of their produce from the campus farm. Six students participate in this Farm to Table program with campus dining. Finally, we had five students managing and enhancing the urban agriculture spaces on campus, the urban agriculture greenhouse and the "Microfarm", a half-acre soil-based urban-scale farm . Twenty-ninestudents, all undergraduate students, took the new course we developed, NTR/PLT 3876 "Farm to Table" (taught by Fox [PI] and Edens [Co-PI]). This is the thirdtime we offered this class. For the "Final Exam" students presented to university leadership in Campus Dining and Campus Farm Operations.During this reporting period we held numerous campus recruitment events, talking with hundreds of students about urban agriculture courses and extracurricular opportunities. We held a a joint event with one of the farm-to-table restaurants we collaborate with, Borreguitas, to celebrate the partnership and thank the volunteers of the campus Microfarm; thirty students attended. Changes/Problems:The PI, Aaron Fox, had a major family emergency this reporting period and had to take 50% Family Medical Leave during Spring 2024. The Co-PIs were able to help continue the project. Most of the project in Spring 2024 was implemented through the "Farm to Table" semester-long class. The one major component of the project that we have not been able to accomplish is the summer, hands-on "Laboratory Methods in Food Safety Class". What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The three SFT Ambassadors (Fall 2023) enrolled in a professional development class and participated in a Food Safety Modernization Act training. . Multiple students received training and experience working in the urban agriculture greenhouse and the CPP Microfarm --- these students also took on more leadership and coordination roles this reporting period and that was moderately succesful. 29 students enrolled in the grant created "Farm to Table" semester-long class (Spring 2024).The students in the "Farm to Table" class workedwith leaders in Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining and Cal Poly Pomona campus farms (Spring 2024) and learned first-handhow to incorporate local, small farm products into large-scale food operations at a university How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?SFT Ambassadors held numerous recruitment and outreach events, talking with approximately 500 people. The "Farm to Table" semester-long class presented to leaders and managers at Cal Poly Pomona university. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue collaborating with Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining to offer hands-on experiential learning opportunities with their "Farm to Table" programming and efforts. We will continue to offer Micro-internships to boost enrollment in some classes. We will also continue to offer the urban agriculture classes we converted to General Education requirements. Having student leaders take-on leadership and coordination roles was helpful this last reporting period and we will continue to do that.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We only had three students participate in the official SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassador program this reporting period because the program was only offered Fall 2023. These three SFT Ambassadors did create numerous volunteer opportunities with the student "Microfarm" farm-managers. We were able to achieve appoximately 150 volunteer hours. The SFT ambassadors also tabled at numerous events and talked with hundreds of students about urban agriculture classes and extracurricular opportunities. . In Spring 2024 the students in the "Farm to Table" class (PLT/NTR 3760) collaborated with Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining and with the campus farm leadership; students in the class developed marketing plans and materials, and communication plans between campus dining and campus farm operations. We were able to talk with approximately 500 students during recruitment events. Enrollment in the Urban and Community Agriculture minor continues to be low. Efforts to incentivize students to attend classes have mixed success --- converting classes to General Education classes has definitely boosted enrollment; offering paid Microinternship classes was able to insure minimum enrollment requirements for one class, but it did not boost enrollment beyond the minimum. It is not clear why enrollment in the "Farm to Table" class continues to grow (from 18 students the previous year to 29 this year) but we should investigate this.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:11 students, all undergraduate students, participated in leadership roles for this project during this reporting period. 3 students seved as "SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassadors" in the Fall 2023 semester. The program shiftedin Spring 2023 --- we collaborated with Cal Poly Pomona's campus dining services to help them achieve their goal of sourcing 15% of their produce from the campus farm. Six students participate in this Farm to Table program with campus dining. Finally, this summer two students have been working on improving and enhancing the urban agriculture spaces on campus, developing collaborations with local restuarants, campus dining, and the campus farm store. Eighteen students, all undergraduate students, took the new course we developed, NTR/PLT 3876 "Farm to Table" (taught by Fox [PI] and Edens [Co-PI]). This is the second time we offered this class. For the "Final Exam" students presented at the Los Angeles County Fair and set-up displays. 20 people attended the presentation and potentially thousands of people viewed the displays. During this reporting period we held numerous campus recruitment events, talking with hundreds of students about urban agriculture courses and extracurricular opportunities. We had two guest speakers talk to students about career opportunties related to urban agriculture. The first was with Matthew Geldin, Head Farmer & Operations Manager of Farmscape Gardens, one of the largest "edible landscaping" companies in the country. The second was with Elinor Crescenzi, a leading expert on community composting in California. Changes/Problems:The one major component of the project that we have not been able to accomplish is the summer, hands-on "Laboratory Methods in Food Safety Class". We have not had the capacity to run the class and will need to rethink how we can offer this component of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The three SFT Ambassadors (Fall 2022) enrolled in a professional development class and participated in a Food Safety Modernization Act training. The six students working with Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining (Spring 2023) had extensive training in culinary arts and food operations as well as learning how to incorporate local, small farm products into large-scale food operations at a university. Multiple students received training and experience working in the urban agriculture greenhouse and the CPP Microfarm. 18 students enrolled in the grant created "Farm to Table" semester-long class (Spring 2023). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?SFT Ambassadors held numerous recruitment and outreach events, talking with approximately 500 people. The "Farm to Table" semester-long class presented at the Los Angeles County Fair and created displays at the Fair that were seen by thousands of people. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Leading the SFT Ambassador program is a time consuming endeavor.The PI and Co-PIs are having a tough time finding the necessary time to dedicate to the program --- we are considering delegating many of these leadership duties to an experienced undergrad student or a graduate student. This way the SFT program can thrive even in the PI or Co-PIs do not have the time to drive the program. Despite our best efforts, recruitment and attendance continues to be a challenge. We have begun to think more strategically about how to get numbers up. We are converting some of our classes to General Education classes to make them more accessible. We are also starting to offer "micro-internships" so students in these classes are paid for the in-depth experiential learning opportunities --- we are hoping this will incentivize students to participate. We will continue collaborating with Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining to offer hands-on experiential learning opportunities with their "Farm to Table" programming and efforts.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
We only had three students participate in the official SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassador program this reporting period because the program was only offered Fall 2022. These three SFT Ambassadorsdid create numerous volunteer opportunities and experiential learning opportunities, including two events with external collaborators. We had low attendance at many of these events but were still able to achieve appoximately 200 volunteer hours. In Spring 2023 six students worked with Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining on their "farm to table program", trying to incroporate more local fruits and vegetables into campus dining operations, especially products from the Cal Poly Pomona campus farm. These six students shadowed and worked for Chef Tonya Tardd, the Executive Chef of Cal Poly Pomona Campus Dining. The students helped with yield testing, menu and recipe creation,and other efforts to incorporate Cal Poly Pomona grown produce into Campus Dining operations. We were able to talk with approximately 500 students during recruitment events. Enrollment in the Urban and Community Agriculture minor continues to be low. We are working towards addressing this by converting some of the required classes to General Education classes so the minor is more accessible to students. Furthermore, we also incorporated a "micro-internship" into one of the classes as a way to incentivize enrollment.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:9 students, all undergraduate students,served as "SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassadors" during this reporting period (three in the Fall 2021, three in the Spring 2022, and three in Summer 2022). Fifteen students, all undergraduate students, took the new course we developed, NTR/PLT 3876 "Farm to Table" (taught by Fox [PI] and Edens [Co-PI]). Fifteen additional students volunteered with our program during this reporting period. During this reporting period we held numerous campus recruitment events, talking with hundreds of students about urban agriculture courses and extracurricular opportunities. SFT Ambassadors also gave campus farm tours and organized volunteer events at local area community gardens. During the summer, SFT Ambassadors began organizing a collaboration between twelve Southern California universities with urban agriculture programming. Thismulti-university consortium will have group events during Fall 2022. One of our biggest audiences this reporting period was the LA County Fair. We were invited to host an "Urban and Community Agriculture" barn throughout the entire month of the fair. SFT Student Ambassadors worked hard to put this together, build it out, and represent the program to the public (see Accomplishments for further details). Over 10,000 people visited this barn at the LA County Fair. Changes/Problems:We have definitely been able to move beyond most of the challenges the pandemic presented --- we are now having most events in person (although we've learned that Zoom events have benefits too, including participation from students who have trouble commuting). However, the major challenge for the project continues to be launching the Food Safety Laborator Methods hands-on class that we anticipated offering every summer. We plan to work on this over the next reporting period and offer the class next summer. As mentioned, we have had numerous recruitment events and have adopted innovative ways of attracting more students to our urban agriculture classes. Enrollment in classes and in the Urban & Community Agriculture minor is growing, but not at the rate we anticipated. We've had to drop at least one class due to low enrollment. Throughout this project, we are learning about barriers students have to enrolling and participating, and we are adapting to these needs. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Drs. Cullen and Yang hosted a two Food Safety Modernization Act workshops this reporting period. Students in the SFT Ambassador program enrolled in a fifteen-week, one unit leadership development class. Students have attended guest speaker opportunities with urban agriculture leaders in composting and vertical farming. Students developed geospatial skills, presentation and communication skills, data management skills, and collaborations skills with our Foodways LA mapping project (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f0b79f2f7a0a48acbb1ac3f8edd3c862) Students developed project management skills, communication skills, logistics and planning skills with the Los Angeles County Fair project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?100students have attended our events during this reporting period. Recruitment events reached over 150students and hundreds of members of the public. Over ten thousand people visited our Urban and Community Agriculture barn at the LA County Fair! We presented our mapping project, Foodways LA, to regional leaders at the Pando Days competition (December 2021; https://pandopopulus.com/programs/pando-days-21/) and the SoCal AG-SURFS conference (April 2022;https://sustainability.fullerton.edu/conference/) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have recruitedthis Fall semester's cohort of the SFT Ambassadors (urban agriculture student leaders) --- four are participating. Now that we are primarily in person, we plan to develop more in-person volunteer opportunities and events. We have submitted a USDA Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production grant to continue our Foodways LA project. We will continue our recruitment events and try to find ways to reach more students. We're also adapting our urban agriculture curriculum to reach more students. We'd also like to have more opportunities for students to shadow and interact wtih urban agriculture leaders during this upcoming reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This reporting period we had 10 SFT Ambassadors (three in the fall, three in the Spring, and fourin the Summer). The Fall and Spring cohorts participated in the leadership development class, and the Summer cohort will take the class Fall 2022. The Fall and Spring cohorts particiapted in Food Safety Modernization Act training, and the Summer cohort will do so during Fall 2022. Experiential learning opportunties this year included Organizing campus farm tours Organizing volunteer events at the campus farm, a local community garden, and a local area farmers' market Organizing recruitment activities to encourage Cal Poly Pomona students to participate in urban agriculture programming, classes, and to sign-up for the Urban and Community Agriculture minor The biggest experiential learning opportunity was during Spring 2022 when SFT Ambassadors led an effort to design and implement an "Urban and Community Agriculture" barn at the Los Angeles County Fair. This was a monumental effort and a great success! SFT Ambassadors and other students volunteered over 1,200 hours this reporting period. The opportunities to interact with project partners in government, non-profit, and business sectors were mostly through the planning and implementation of the Los Angeles County Fair project. SFT Ambassadors, with Kathleen Blakistone's direction,contacted dozens of organizations, companies and government agencies to gauge interest and availability to table at the event. The students were also the "point people" during the fair for these activities and helped the different organizations navigate and set-up. We also hosted three chefs in our inaugural "Farm to Table" class Spring 2022 --- two chefs are owners of "farm to table" restaurants and one is the Executive Chef of Campus dining at Cal Poly Pomona. SFT Ambassadors and Faculty participated in eight recruitment activites during this reporting period, talking with over 100 students. The numbers in our urban agriculture classes are improving but enrollment is still an issue for some classes. We continue to have students signing-up for the Urban and Community Agriculture minor, but not the numbers we anticipated. We are trying to address these issues by Converting some classes to General Education classes (so they are more accessible to a wider student audience) Collaborting with the campus Center for Community Engagement to offer paid "micro-internships" with community partners via our urban agriculture classes Offering some of our urban agriculture classes online
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Seventeenstudents, four graduate students and thirteen undergraduates, have participated in the project during this period. Three of these students, two graduate students and one undergraduate student,have served as "SoCal Farm to Table Ambassadors" and the rest as volunteers. We have collaborated wtih two urban agriculture community organizations. One, Sustainable Economic Enerterprises of L.A., is primarily a farmers' market management and food justice organization. The other, the UC ANR Cooperative Extension of Los Angeles County is an extension and outreach organization, especially for urban farmers in our area. We have also interacted with leaders in Southern California Urban Agriculture (government agencies, chefs, farmers, etc.) through virtual farm tours and guest speakers. Changes/Problems:The pandemic, ofcourse, has been a major set-back. Much of what we were planning to do involved in-person activities and students travelling to engage with local community partners. While we were not able to do that, we were able to pivot towards online experiences and I am proud of how our Project Directors and especially our students adapted. Our timeline has shifted and this primarily impacts when we will offer thenew classes we are developing for this project. We will begin to offer the "Farm to Table" class during theSpring 2021 semester, and the "Food Safety Laboratory Methods" hands-on course during Summer 2022. Also, the company, inHouse Produce, that we were going to collaborate with and purchase an aquaponic microgreen grow system from unfortunately went out of business due to pandemic circumstances. We are actively looking for a new microgreen grow system and plan to purchase that during the next reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Drs. Cullen and Yang hosted a two-part Food Safety Modernization Act workshop that was attended by fifteen students. Students in the SFT Ambassador program enrolled in a fifteen-week, one unit leadership development class. Students have connected with urban agriculture partners from cooperative extension and a non-profit organization for two long-term volunteer projects. This has taught them data management skills, collaboration and communication skills, and exposed them to many of the challenges urban agriculture faces. Students have attended guest speaker opportunities with urban farmers, chefs, and government leaders to learn about career opportunities in food, agriculture, and natural resources. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?195 students have attended our events during this reporting period. We have had numerous meetings with community partners, especially the two that we engaged in long-term volunteer projects with (UC Cooperative Extension and Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles [SEE-LA]). The Project Director, Dr. Fox, made a presentation to theNIFA HSI Virtual PD meeting on March 9, 2021. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are recruiting this semester's cohort of the SFT Ambassadors (urban agriculture student leaders) and plan to enroll 3 to 4. We will continue our long-term student volunteer project mapping all of the urban farms in Los Angeles County. Project Directors and students will develop new community engagement and volunteer opportunities, hopefully these can start to be "in-person" this semester rather than solely online We will also focus more on recruiting students to our Urban and Community Agriculture minor and its associated classes during the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Three students participated in the SoCal Farm to Table (SFT) Ambassador program during the Spring 2021 Semester. Three additional students participated in the SFT Ambassador program during Fall 2020, however, their stipend money came from private donors. SFT Ambassadors enrolled in a professional development class, attended a Food Safety Modernization Act training, and were able to lead numerous experiential learning opportunities despite the limitations of the pandemic. While the program was not allowed to be on campus or have in-person events during this period we were still able to host numerous events on Zoom and volunteer with community partners virtually. 195 people attended the nine Zoom events. Sixteen total students, including the six SFT Ambassadors, worked on two long-term volunteer projects during this reporting period. The students volunteered over 1,000 hours during this reporting period. While were not able to physically meet with project partners in government, non-profit, and business sectors, students were able to attend Zoom meetings and guest lectures with the following people: Max Regis (Deputy Commissioner, Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner's Office), Julieta Muñoz (Pomona area urban farmer), Cat Castaneda (Owner and Chef of Native Fields Farm-to-Table Restaurant), Cara Hanstein (Urban Farmer at Huntington Botanical Gardens), Elliott Kuhn (urban farmer, Cottonwood Urban Farm), Brian Lake (Director of Campus Landscape Services), Aaron Flores (urban farmer, Riverbed Aquaponic Farm). Formal recruitment opportunities were greatly hampered by the pandemic. We were, however, able to informally recruit during virtual events and activities. For example, the university's student association hosted the SFT Ambassadors for a one-hour urban farming demonstration on Zoom that was attended by thirty students. Also, the SFT Ambassadors hosted a speaker panel via Zoom on the possibilities of starting a campus-wide composting program that was attended by 30 people. Many of the respondents to the survey provided an answer regarding what would interest them in the urban agriculture minor. Seven gave answers related to enhancing or developing their career path; one respondent mentioned community nutrition and another mentioned combining agriculture with architecture in order to grow in less space. Four respondents mentioned a theme of helping their community, such as "Growing or helping communities grow gardens for themselves." One respondent shared, "I was enrolled in the minor and I enjoyed how it ties to communities and how it is an alternative to what you'd see in traditional agriculture. It also gives an idea of how to efficiently use limited space..."
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