Graig MantleAlthough not many students know about it, the Cal Poly Organic Farm is busy year round growing fresh organic fruits and vegetables for the community.
The produce is sold to local restaurants and at farmers’ market, but the majority of it goes into boxes for the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.
According to CSA Sales and Marketing Supervisor Elaine Genasci, this is the program’s eighth year and it is also the largest with 320 shares being produced each week.
Through the CSA, community members pay to receive a box of vegetables and fruits grown on the farm from April 2 to Sept. 10 by Cal Poly students.
The farm benefits from the program because the amount of produce grown is regulated by the number of purchased shares. Unlike other produce growers, the farm does not need to grow for the general market, which does not have a fixed demand.
Members can sign up for a full share, which feeds four adults for a week, or a half share, which feeds two. Genasci said that a half share usually includes between eight and ten items per week.
Most of the vegetables and fruits included in the boxes come from the Cal Poly Organic Farm, but occasionally it will be purchased from another grower.
“We do buy from other local organic farms for variety,” said Genasci.
This quarter the produce offered includes carrots, beets, broccoli, onions, cauliflower, lettuce, leeks, arugula, kale, artichokes, asparagus and strawberries, although what’s included in the boxes changes weekly.
“The biggest thing people need to get used to (with locally grown organic food) is that what we sell is whatever’s in season,” said Gensaci. “You can walk into a grocery store and buy anything because it’s grown in the Southern Hemisphere.”
The drawback with that, she said, is that the farther food travels, the more nutritional value it loses and consumers don’t usually know exactly where it came from.
The organic farm is run by a management team and Cal Poly students who work for a variety of reasons.
The Organic Farming Enterprise project is offered as a course (CRSC 202 and 402) each quarter where students receive units to work on the farm. It is taught by Dr. John Phillips and is open to all students.
Some students work on the farm in exchange for produce in a work trade program. They receive a box in exchange for four hours of work.
Most of the students involved work about 20 hours a week for pay.
“I wanted to get some practical experience in farming and the organic farm provides that,” said crop and soil sciences senior David Guerena. “It ties what I’m learning in school to a practical application.”
Crop science graduate student Brad Booker has similar reasons for working at the organic farm.
“I’m doing a thesis in crop science and I wanted to keep learning about it,” he said. “It combines learning and working.”
Students who work on the farm do a variety of jobs ranging from construction and tractor work to feeding goats and chickens to planting, weeding and sowing the crops. The majority of the work is preparing produce for the CSA boxes.
“Mondays and Thursdays are harvest days,” Guerena said. “We start at 7 a.m. and harvest the produce, then take it to the washing station and pack the boxes from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.”
Booker enjoys working on the farm because he gets to see the end results of his work.
“It’s satisfying to see customers actually picking up the crops,” he said.
The organic farm is made up of three separate fields. The first is the student experimental farm off Mount Bishop Road and across from the compost unit.
Field 25 is a smaller one-acre field located along U.S. Highway 1 and field 34, the largest one, is across the street from the dairy unit.
While all three of the fields use the same organic methods, only the student experimental farm and field 25 are certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers. Field 34 is in the process of certification.
“It’s a pretty strict process,” said Genasci. “You have to apply for the certification and then prove for three years that everything is done right. There’s an inspection every year after that.”
In order to be qualified for certification, the Cal Poly Organic Farm uses no pesticides and only natural fertilizers. Everything used on the farm must be approved, down to what material the netting over plants is made of.
More information about the organic farm and the CSA program is available on their Web site, www.calpolyorgfarm.com.