Most Cal Poly students navigate the bustling concrete campus, weaving through crowds and clanging bells to get to class.
Environmental management and protection senior Moe Lee’s schedule looks a bit different. Their usual route is along a lengthy gravel path, past endless rows of fruit trees.
After walking through a fence, Lee arrives at their place of learning: the Cal Poly Organic Farm.
Situated in front of Cal Poly’s dairy center, rodeo grounds and veterinary clinic is the 8-acre farm that grows various certified organic crops year-round, according to the Plant Sciences website. With the help of a supervisor, the farm is run entirely by students.
“Even on the hard days when you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be here’ or it’s hot or it feels like work, you know, you just look up and you’re like, ‘actually I could be doing so many worse things,’” Lee said. “It’s a beautiful place, beautiful view, get to grow stuff. It’s very fulfilling.”
According to Cal Poly’s Center for Sustainability, the Organic Farm has provided Learn By Doing experiences for students in plant sciences, soil sciences, nutrition and more since 2000. It’s part of the over 6,000 acres of agricultural land on campus, which includes a conventional farm, fruit orchards, animal science facilities and the Leaning Pine Arboretum, the CAFES website said.
The student farm crew is in charge of selecting, planting, irrigating, harvesting and selling their organic crops. Outfitted in jeans, Blundstone boots and a “ratty t-shirt” Lee explained that students may spend their shifts in the field or in the Crops Unit preparing for local distribution.
Every quarter, roughly five to seven student farmers work Field 34, another name for the Organic Farm. Students can work up to 20 hours per week, and daily shifts are three hours long.
At least one student farmer works every weekday alongside the faculty supervisor. Lee said there is “pretty minimal direction,” so students get to be independent and learn from one another.
“When I first showed up, it was like you don’t really call the boss unless you really have to, you’re calling your coworkers first and asking them what they know or how to problem solve,” Lee said. “Because, usually, they’ll have really genuine insight into that stuff.”
Some of the farm’s year-round crops include romaine and iceberg lettuce, green onions, beets, cilantro, broccoli and various types of cauliflower. Summer is the season for cherry and roma tomatoes, Hungarian wax and lunch box peppers and winter squash, according to agricultural communication senior and organic farmer Mary Nascimento.
“I love when I seed something and I get to see it shoot up,” Nascimento said. “It’s just so cool to be part of that, to see the things that you worked for actually come to fruition.”
The Organic Farm Crew harvests weekly orders for Vons supermarket in San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, the Thursday night Downtown SLO Farmers’ Market and the Saturday morning market off of Madonna Road, Nascimento said. The farm also works with Real Food Collaborative (RFC), a Cal Poly club that aims to support local farmers by selling bi-weekly produce boxes to students and faculty, according to their website.
“People at Madonna especially love that it’s student-grown produce,” Nascimento said. “A lot of them will come up and be like, ‘I’m an alumni, I went there,’ or we even have had people who worked on the farm come stop by the booths.”
Nascimento said student farmers learn about self-management and leading others. Her experience mentoring students in the Organic Enterprise Project (PLSC 203) has taught her how to speak up for herself.
Students also learn how to drive tractors, manage food safety and prioritize tasks — all of which are skills that will help them succeed in the agriculture industry post-graduation, Organic Farm supervisor Kelly O’Neil said.
He said Cal Poly’s “Learn By Doing” philosophy is one of the reasons he came to the school.
“You can walk from the library to [the Crops Unit] in five minutes,” O’Neil said in reference to his previous farm management job with Oregon State University, where the student facilities were off-campus. “That is an experience I don’t think a lot of students get to have.”
O’Neil loves that he gets to both teach and learn from the student farm crew.
“It gives you the chance to engage and I think the best part of this farm and Organic Center is the opportunities for that, and I would hate to see that ever go away,” he said.
For Lee, one of the best parts of working at the farm is just that: engaging with and connecting to the community through local farming.
“I think that it’s really important for people to understand where their food comes from and creating that connection again, because we are so disconnected from where our food comes from,” they said.
Lee said the best way to support the Organic Farm and other farms in the area is to buy from them. In addition to farmers’ markets and Vons, Cal Poly organic produce can be bought at the farm’s several U-pick events throughout the year.
“There’s people behind everything that you eat and kind of generating that understanding, I think, is really valuable.”
Moe Lee
While many Cal Poly students’ school days end by shutting a computer or putting away lab supplies, Lee’s typically ends with dirt under their fingernails and a handful of leftover produce to take home. Arguably, Lee’s attitude is unique, as well.
“Literally every time I come here, I’m happier than when I showed up,” they said.
More information on the Organic Farm, including current events and research projects, can be found on the farm’s website and through the Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research.
