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Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

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Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

Community Supported Organic Agriculture Education

Paloma Collier
Paloma Collier
Paloma Collier
Paloma Collier
1 Campaign |
Santa Cruz, United States
$1,228 USD 16 backers
20% of $6,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
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I am currently apprenticing at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, UCSC.  This incredible six-month program is providing me with the skills to become an organic farmer and the knowledge to be able to help change our unhealthy food systems.  Upon completion of the Apprenticeship training program I will have had 1000 hours of classroom instruction, in-field training and hands-on experience in the greenhouses, gardens, orchards, and fields and will receive a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture. (www.casfs.ucsc.edu). When I leave CASFS I will be able to return to being a farm and garden educator with an increased understanding of food justice and food policy.

I’m writing to you today to ask for help. We have six weeks left in our program and I have almost depleted my funds.  The tuition for the apprenticeship program is $6,000, plus $637 for food and tools, with additional living expenses.  Due to the full time intensity of the program I have not been able to work outside of my time as an apprentice besides a few weekend jobs; the staff does not recommend working. I am asking for your support in finishing this program, and leaving here with some funding to pursue work in this field.  Your contribution will help me complete this program and replenish my savings, in addition to funding my future as a food justice advocate, farming and gardening educator, and participant in helping to build a new food future. I believe that all of you know of the social and environmental impact of our conventional food system, and the inequities in access to healthy food around the country, however please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss our food system.

If you contribute to the completion of this educational program, I would be more than happy to help you with a project of your own. I also would like to offer you a 2016 calendar of my photos from the farm.

My long-term dream is to create a Community Farm Center that is a hub for agricultural employment for youth, garden and nutrition education for people of all ages, where we grow organic food for school lunches.  When I leave CASFS, I am going to start making this dream happen by working on food justice based farms, continuing to educate youth, organizing communities, continuing my organic farming education, and becoming a school garden consultant.  You can help me achieve my dreams of food justice for all by helping me finish my education here and funding me to build a website to start my school garden consulting business.  

Please see these websites of my previous employers: Conscious Kitchen, Bayside MLK Academy (http://www.teensturninggreen.org/the-conscious-kitchen/), and Earth Care Food Cadre (http://www.earthcarenm.org/programs-2/serve-with-us/). Also see photos below of my work as a Garden and Nutrition Coordinator. Facilitating a connection between youth, nature and healthy foods is one of the foundational steps towards building a new food future. This is the type of work I want to continue doing, but bigger. Please feel free to find my photos on Instagram at palomita_de_maiz.

Thank you so much for your consideration and for your support.  Many of you encouraged me to attend this program, and your emotional support throughout my time here has meant the world to me.

With Love,
Paloma

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