University of San Francisco Urban Agriculture

In 2007, USF professors Melinda Stone and Seth Wachtel and eleven students enrolled in the year-long Garden Project living learning community transformed an overgrown lot into a campus organic garden. Over the next four years, Garden Project students and faculty installed irrigation and water catchment systems, planted an orchard, painted garden murals, and designed and built an outdoor kitchen, greenhouse, toolshed, and a solar power system. In 2011, responding to overwhelming amount of student interest, the professors transitioned the Garden Project into a minor in Urban Agriculture. Urban Ag students now learn about corporate food systems, alternative and more equitable models of urban-based agriculture, and larger food and environmental justice movements. They also master advanced skills in organic gardening, cooking and homesteading, and demonstrate an ability to grow, harvest, prepare, and preserve food. Food grown in the USF Community Garden is distributed to the community through various channels including: a student-run farmstand on campus; monthly free community dinners at nearby St. Cyprian’s Church; weekly produce deliveries (by bicycle) to the food bank at Booker T. Washington Community Service Center; and modest sales to Bon Appetit, USF’s food supplier.