Meet OGC Mission Fund Recipient: Bethel Farm
Located in northwest Eugene, the Bethel School District is taking an innovative approach to reaching at-risk and struggling youth by connecting them to organic agriculture.
Based at Kalapuya High School, the district’s “Bethel Farm” is an immersive outdoor classroom where students get hands-on learning experience as they plan, plant and tend crops. Through the farm, students learn botany, agriculture, science and job skills in a real-world setting.
The farm is three acres of lush annual crops, fruit trees and community garden plots. Bethel grows crops that are crowd favorites like strawberries, less common items (like celeriac) to give students a chance to try something new, apples for pressing cider, produce for preserves and more. Students use solar panels to produce electricity, maintain the compost system and they’ve also built the barn, hoop house, greenhouse and raised garden beds.
When developing curricula to reach at-risk students, Bethel found that hands on education and activities, like growing food encourages success and attendance. According to farm manager Kyle Ryan, the farm opens students’ world to skills like plant propagation and breeding, beekeeping, greenhouse management, animal husbandry and food safety.
The food the students grow goes right to cooking classes, where they learn food shopping and nutrition. Students are also welcome to take food home and periodically Bethel holds free farmers markets for them. Some of the crops go into school lunches. And whenever Bethel has food to donate, it goes directly to the food bank clients at FOOD for Lane County.
In 2023, OGC gave Bethel Farm School a Mission Fund grant. “We’re super grateful to have support from OGC,” shared Kyle. “It’s awesome to get the recognition for being likeminded in what we’re doing. Our students will grow up learning a lot more about the things OGC sells – this helps their overall health and enjoyment of fruits and veggies. We’re using the grant to expand our thornless blackberries and buy strawberry starts – anything that students can pick and immediately eat is a win!”
OGC’s Mission Fund Grant Program helps grow the organic agriculture movement by educating youth about agriculture and connecting them to organic food. Bethel Farm is just one of the many organizations the Mission Fund supported in 2023. Find a list of all our recent grant recipients here.
