2008 Woodie Awards
Arcata Educational Farm alive and well
Jocelyn Orr
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: News
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That has not kept the Mooney family from spending Fridays at the farm. Erin Mooney is a graduate student at Humboldt State University and in addition to being a shareholder, volunteers at the farm with her daughters Torrin, 5, and Alissa, 10.
"Don't tell me you are a green school if you aren't going to support community agriculture," Jon Mooney, Environmental Director for the Wiyot Tribe said.
Noah Zerbe, Humboldt State professor and advisor to Students for Community Food, a club that volunteers at the farm said the idea of community food is growing in popularity.
"There are economic benefits to spending money locally," he said. "Safety in knowing where your food comes from, and [community food] creates the connection between people and food, nature and people."
There was a land agreement, between Humboldt State and the City of Arcata, that said the park-turned-farm would be a laboratory for students. The city provided the land and the university provided liability insurance and non-profit status to the farm.
Twice a week shareholders, people who pre-pay for produce, came to the farm and often blocked the road. This prevented neighbors from being able to come and go as they please. In 2005, neighbors filed a lawsuit against the City of Arcata over access to the road that they shared with the Arcata Educational Farm.
Despite the lawsuit, Pete Barker, a farm assistant said, "we don't hold anything against the neighbors." Instead they let neighbors graze sheep and goats on the plots the farm doesn't grow food on.
"It's an alternative to using a tractor to mow the grass," Barker said.
The city asked Humboldt State to take over the lawsuit, since they had agreed to cover insurance. Before the lawsuit could be settled the university stopped providing liability insurance for students to be at the farm and no longer allowed classes to meet or be instructed there.
Because of the lawsuit an injunction was placed on the farm stating that no more than three people could be on the land at a time and cars could not park there.
"There used to be a board of advisors for the farm, but the lawsuit shattered it all," Barker said.
The lawsuit was recently resolved. The settlement divided the cost of fixing the road, adding 10 parking spaces for the farm, and water and sewer hook-ups for the farm and neighbors by three. The city and the two neighbors adjacent to the farm will each pay a third of the cost.
Barker said the result is "a win-win situation, but it took a lawsuit to bring it about."
Now the lawsuit is settled. The road will be paved by the end of October and Humboldt State will have the opportunity to utilize the farm again.
If Humboldt State provided liability insurance for students while they were at the farm, classes, such as community and sustainable agriculture could be taught there again.
Paul Mann, Humboldt State's Senior Communication Officer said, "At this point no one [at Humboldt State] even knows the lawsuit has been resolved."
If there were to be classes held at the farm in the future it would be the decision of an individual professor to bring the matter forward, Mann said.
Rowan Steele, a farm assistant and Humboldt State alumni, said "Is the school going to take advantage of this amazing resource?"
"There will always be overlap between the farm and the university. [Humboldt State] is a big part of this community, but this is the future - urban, sustainable agriculture. And for [Humboldt State] to not be included would be a shame," Steele said.
Jocelyn Orr can be reached at jocelyn.orr@gmail.com
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