Edible Sacramento Fall 2022

W hen asked to picture a farmer, Americans may conjure up an image not unlike the male figure in American Gothic . Many farmers defy that stereotype, and a diverse, younger generation is increasingly drawn to farming. Yet data suggest the American Gothic man still represents themajority of farmers: 64 percent are male, 97 percent of land-owning farmers are white, andwith ame dian age of 57, farmers are the oldest sector of the U.S. workforce. The costs of entry make agriculture a challenging career path for individuals who aren’t born into multigenerational farms. Access to water and competing demands for land make it harder for be ginning farmers to get started — let alone make a living — in agri culture. These challenges and some innovative solutions are all on display in West Sacramento, a river city located at the confluence of programs that spark young people’s interest in agriculture, o†er farmer training, and connect beginning farmers with land. INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION The share of farmers in the U.S. workforce shrank from 7.6 mil lion in 1950 to 2million in 1990, with the number hovering near 2

his apprenticeship, he started Sol Harvest Farmand produced veg etables on three sites located several miles apart. One of the sites was owned by a high-end restaurant that featured Sol Harvest pro duce on its menu; Murphy found other markets for his remaining produce. His farming experiences in Albuquerque prepared him well to be a resource and sounding board for beginning farmers. “The market for local, sustainably grown vegetables can be crowded. Growing is the easy part. Selling takes more work, and you’re not just selling the produce; you need to sell yourself, your farm, your vision,” he says. “I was where they are now, just start ing my farm. They ask general questions, like ‘How did you build relationships?’ to specific ones, such as, ‘How can I sell all these cucumbers?’” Fortunately,Murphy cananswer givenhisfirsthandexperience. GROWING DIVERSITY NelsonHawkins farms one of CLBL’s urban incubator sites inWest Sacramento, and like the other incubator farmers, he andMurphy meet regularly. Hawkins shares that the incubator farm program “isn’t

hand-holding; it’s kicking you out of the nest and helping you fly by of fering resources, access to land, and technical assistance for farming and for business success, so you can make it on your own.” Hawkins founded WeGrow Ur ban Farm in 2018 shortly after com pleting his degree in sustainable agriculture and food systems at Uni versity of California, Davis. Would he be farming today without the incuba tor program? “I would have found a way, but I wouldn’t be this far along,” Hawkins says.

million ever since. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz regularly told farmers to “get big or get out” dur ing his tenure in the Nixon and Ford administrations; he implemented policies that precipitated farm con solidation and workforce reductions. He ascribed to an economic line of reasoning that farm consolidation led to greater efficiency. However, an e—cient food system is not neces sarily designed to produce delicious food, promote ecological health, and ensure the well-being of the people growing and eating the food. Enter the Center for Land-Based

“They learn where their food comes from and how to eat — not just to satisfy hunger, but to nourish their bodies.” — Jennifer McAllister

Growing up biracial in the predominantly white community of Auburn, Hawkins experienced various forms of racism. He became an activist andworkedwithothers to transformsystems of oppres sion. He saw activism unite people but also witnessed further di vision as individuals got caught up in di†erences. His mother was diagnosedwithbreast cancer, thenhis father got a cancer diagnosis of his own. Their health journeys awakened the family to the links between food, pesticides, and disease, and how everyone deserves access to healthy food—not just those who can a†ord it. Hawkins began to see food as a tool for bringing people togeth er.Without any previous farming experience, he immersedhimself in sustainable, urban agriculture. WeGrow now includes the half acre incubator farminWest Sacramento and another half-acre site in Rio Linda. On Fridays during the summer months, Hawkins can be found at the WeGrow farm stand surrounded by his help ers, school-aged children who live in a†ordable housing units ad jacent to his farm.

Learning’s California Farm Academy. CLBL’s training programs o†er aspiring farmers the knowledge, technical skills, and connec tions needed to pursue their farming goals. “We grow more farmers,” says Ric Murphy, who manages the FarmBusiness Incubator program. Some participants also get a reality check: The training pro grams o†er an honest, unromantic view of farming that includes the reality of working long hours in the heat. Four of CLBL’s incubator farm sites are located in urbanWest Sacramento, and another four are co-located at CLBL’s headquar ters on the outskirts of Woodland, another city in Yolo County. Farmers apply to manage incubator farm sites; those selected get subsidized farmland andwater, technical assistance, and access to tools, aggregation facilities, and other infrastructure. Murphy found farmingmidcareer: Tending a plot at one of Sac ramento’s community gardens inspired him to leave a stable state job to become a farmapprentice inAlbuquerque. Upon completing

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