Sustainable Agriculture students from Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) shared their knowledge and experience with the community of Ladner during the Day at the Farm event.
Students from the Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture program spent the day at the Westham Island Herb Farm connecting with the community and sharing what they do at the KPU Farm.
“We want to do outreach to students who are in high school and interested in studying agriculture at KPU,” says Alex Bissett, KPU Farm Community Outreach Coordinator.
The KPU Farm is on the Garden City Lands a 55-hectare (136-acre) Agricultural Land Reserve site, just 250 metres east of the KPU Richmond campus. KPU's Department of Sustainable Agriculture farms eight hectares (20 acres) of the land.
The farm highlights diversified, sustainable, regenerative and organic production practices adjacent to the population centre of downtown Richmond.
“We have the bachelor’s program, but we also do a lot of outreach. We do Twilight Tours at the farm a few times a month and we also have a learning garden space, which is open to the public for the community to come and visit,” adds Bissett. “The goal of the Day at the Farm is to help make people aware of all these things we offer at the farm and answer any questions they may have.”
At the Sept. 7 event in Ladner, students set up a tent and offered agriculture-related games and a hands-on soil blocking activity where participants could experience what learning on the farm is like.
“This hands-on activity introduces the idea of sustainable agriculture especially in small-scale organic agriculture,” says Yohani Weheragama, KPU Learning Garden Assistant.
Through a unique combination of classroom and farm-based learning, students in the Sustainable Agriculture program at KPU explore practical opportunities for land and food to strengthen community and ecosystem health.