Farm Tour - Seedstock Sustainable Agricultural Innovation Conference - Seeds at City Urban Farm - 1st Stop.

I was offered a ticket to the 4th Annual Seeds Sustainable Agricultural Conference Farms Tour.
This was last November and haven't gotten around to posting this until now.

The first stop was the City Urban Farm on the campus of the San Diego City College.  The campus is in the heart of San Diego with downtown high rises surrounding the farm.   The college offers associate degrees in students who will continue their education in agriculture at a university.

Here is some information from their website.

The Sustainable Agriculture program is housed within the Life Sciences Department at City College and offers a hands-on approach to becoming a professional and/or academic in the fields of sustainable agriculture and market farming. 

 We offer an Associate's degree for those planning to continue education in agriculture at a universityas well as three certificates of performance and achievement for those interested in developing a background in agriculture, working in the industry, or starting their own business. 
The goals of the program are to:

1. Help our society improve the health of its environment, food, and communities;

2. Give students practical experience working alongside professional farmers & agriculture faculty;

3. Teach students how to critically analyze historical and current food systems to offer more sustainable solutions.

WHY DO WE NEED TO TRAIN FARMERS?

The average age of US farmers is 59 years old. Over 50% of the world's population currently lives in cities. 15% of the world's food is currently currently grown in cities. According to UN projections, 2/3 of the world's population will be living in cities by 2030. We need more farmers to meet the growing need for food and to ensure local food security. 





The farm on the campus was our first stop.   We met with Damian Valdez, the farms manager.   He explained the program and requirement that students work a minimum number of hours at the farm.     Below are pictures of the farm on the campus 

This is the farm manager, Damian Valdez.

 Another view of the farm with high rises in the background.

 A view of downtown San Diego from the farm.