Please join us for presentations and conversations with three candidates for the Production Manager & Educator position. Each brings a remarkable set of experiences. We value your participation and feedback in this process. Each candidate will give a short presentation, which you can join by zoom, followed by a brief teaching demonstration in the field. For those able to join in person, presentations will be in Bowley, room 101.
We're thrilled to welcome Janvier (Jan) Velillaas the new Lead Farmer & Educator at the Student Farm Market Garden. With over 20 years of farming experience across the country—from upstate New York and Colorado to California—Jan brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep commitment to sustainable agriculture and community engagement. Here’s a closer look at Jan's journey, philosophy, and aspirations for the future of the farm.
The nomination call for the 2025 Eric Bradford & Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership award is now live. This award recognizes and honors individuals who have exhibited the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist. Nominations are due January 31st, 2025.
A year of work together toward ecologically, socially and economically sustainable food systemsThe photos below capture a few highlights from a year on the Student Farm, sharing a very incomplete (but nonetheless astounding) picture of what the team of students and staff were able to accomplish. Alongside these stories, we'll soon compile numbers - interns, courses, pounds of food distributed, events and visitors, field trips, vegetable varieties, tons of compost, ground squirrel burrows - that convey a little of what goes on.
We are excited to invite African international students at UC Davis to participate in a study titled "African Immigrants’ Food Security: A Cultural Perspective."
The aim of this research is to understand the food security challenges and experiences of African immigrants and international students, focusing on their access to culturally preferred foods.
In May, Fresh Focus and the Student Farm hostedcampus and community organizations engaged in food culture work. Building on the 2023 Food Security Collaborative, the convening focussed on articulating and exploring different ideas of food sovereignty.
Working in the Karp Lab with Danny Karp & Austin Spence, recent UC Davis undergraduate Frank Fabbro produced a fascinating report on "Bird Diversity and Food Safety at the Student Farm". The report captures the wonderful diversity of wildlife that is possible on and around sustainable farms. Read on to learn more, or download a pdf of the report from the link below.
