Farm Smart designated as USDA People’s Garden
Since its start in 2001, more than 140,000 youth and adults have visited the Farm Smart program at the University of California Desert Research and Extension in Holtville.
This year, however, visitors are greeted by large signs in English and Spanish recognizing this site as a U.S. Department of Agriculture People’s Garden. Roberto Gonzalez, USDA-HSI national program regional director for Southern California and Arizona, initiated the process of designating the 3-acre Farm Smart U-Pick garden for the USDA People’s Garden initiative.
Farm Smart is the first to be named in this region and is recognized for growing fresh fruits and vegetables, demonstrating sustainable practices, and providing a place to gather, learn and share.
Farm Smart, the outreach component of DREC, reaches 8,000 to 10,000 participants each year through K-12 field trips to the farm, winter farm tours, and community outreach. The program strives to raise awareness, educate the public, and provide outreach on several issues such as healthy eating and lifestyles, natural resources conservation, cultural and intergenerational connections, sustainable agriculture, environmental education and career opportunities in food, agriculture and sciences.
School gardens, community gardens, urban farms and small-scale agriculture projects in rural and urban areas are recognized as a People’s Garden by meeting three criteria: The garden must be a collaborative effort; it must benefit the community, and it must incorporate sustainable practices.
Farm Smart offers the opportunity for the local community and visitors to learn about natural and renewable natural resources, including agriculture, so that they can be conserved, managed and available for future generations.
With just over 1900 gardens recognized in the United States, the USDA People’s Garden benefits their communities through the mission of growing healthy food, people and communities. This work is accomplished through collaboration and volunteerism. The People’s Garden is named in honor of President Lincoln’s description of USDA as “The People’s Department.”
On Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Feb. 12, 2009, the first People’s Garden was started at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The garden is a national model and demonstrates the many ways USDA fulfills its mission to provide a sustainable, safe and nutritious food supply while working to protect and preserve the landscape where that food is produced. It also is the first and most visible People’s Garden in the world.
Visit our site at http://drec.ucanr.edu/ farm_smart, or call us at (760)356-3067 for more information. You can also learn more about the People’s Garden initiative at https://peoplesgarden.usda.gov/