What first drew you to your job? I started part-time when it was a very different job— basically to take a little fledgling high school education program to different places in the state. What drew me is I’ve always loved agricultural education. I was raised in 4-H and FFA, and those were incredibly important programs to me growing up. I have my master’s degree in agricultural education from Ohio State University, and my undergrad is from UC Davis in plant science and ag business. I was intrigued by the hands-on program model that brought out high school students from different schools and different backgrounds over a school year, multiple times, to learn about farming, resource management and leadership skills. And I loved that it focused on sustainability. In that era, it was a very innovative program. Tell us how the youth programs have grown. The original FARMS (Farming, Agriculture, and Resource Management for Sustainability) was a one-year program when I started. Now, they have the option of a second-year advanced program and then a paid internship. In 2001, we became an official nonprofit and created SLEWS (Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship) where students work on habitat restoration. Now, it’s a model that we teach other organizations. We started Caring for Our Watersheds around 2009. It has students research their local watershed and come up with solutions for environmental problems. Who is drawn to the adult farmer-training programs? They draw a pretty diverse group of people, but the average age is mid-30s to 40. Some grew up on a farm or studied agriculture, but we also have bankers, investment property owners and others who want a career change. We have a bunch who came to farming because of health issues, like cancer. Learning more about food and healthy eating became a life goal, and they wanted to help provide healthy food for others.
At the UC Davis Student Farm, Mary Kimball, above, speaks with high school students in the FARMS Program. At right, FARMS students wash just- harvested daikon radishes. Below, Kimball chats with Todd McPherson, a Luther Burbank Urban Agriculture Academy teacher.
Linda DuBois ldubois@californiabountiful.com
MORE ONLINE Go to californiabountiful.com to learn how the Center for Land-Based Learning is funded, what alumni go on to do and the most rewarding aspects of Kimball’s job.
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