Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

It will be interesting to see, if the mentorship at the college works out, how being established on a college campus affected and affects the stability of the Pomona College organic farm in its operations 

The Pomona College organic farm stands next to a grassy lawn used for sports and is split into two regions - one with fruit trees and low lying herbs and the other teeming with robust vines and bushes used as herbs and produce...the lot is, from a general point of view, located at the south end of the college campus

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

For my second interview, I shall be interviewing a third mentor of mine - this one hopefully helping me traverse the project till my 1.5 hour presentation next spring.  Unlike my first two mentors at Caltech and the Arroyo Food Co-op, this expert will help me explore the aspect of urban farming concerned with being familiar with farming techniques and measuring a living by the amount of produce self-produced.  Finding one such person at a farm, I will retire from my post as an Arroyo Food Co-op ambassador if the store continues to fare poorly in regards to financial circumstances - as of now, the  Co-op is struggling to stay afloat in their homegrown, community-based vision.  It would be ideal to continue working at a functioning grassroots store so essential to publicizing the idea of urban farming while looking behind-the-scenes at the physical labor put into actually making its shelves stocked.  However, I am expecting to adapt to whatever situation is afforded to me, especially since I have by now fully tapped into the experience and hands-on information (through observation and conversation) available at my two listed mentorships!  

Currently, as I type this post, I am in the process of emailing the head farmer at the organic community farm at Claremont Pomona College - where my sister attends her new college life - to see if he would be willing to mentor me in being more fit - physically and mentally - for this project.  Being that this man has just graduated from UC Santa Barbara with knowledge in biology and general regenerative studies, I feel he is compatible with urban farming as a ‘rising trend’ and a more ‘promising solution’ to many ecological and therefore social issues, like that of food security in a world battling the consequences to climate change.  In the same way the farm manager reflects his recently acquired expertise through his work environment, I hope to take what I have read about in articles for research checks and apply these dreamlike tid bits in continuing the movement towards food sustainability.  If my Pomona contact falls through, I will follow up with the manager at Earthworks Farm, which gives younger generations the opportunity to learn farming techniques from experienced farmers who devote their time to education.  The Farm is unique in allowing each of its ‘students’ manage a farm plot of their own, pulling in big name sponsors to cover costs of the operation.

• Pomona College Farm manager: Scott Fleeman

Scott.Fleeman@pomona.edu

• Earthworks Farm

Senior Farmer (official mentor): Angel Abarca

Program/Development Director: Marianne Zuagg

http://earthworksfarmgarden.org/about-us/staff/

2.  What five (and then some) questions will you ask them about their background?

• What interests growing up most contributed to the fruition of your involvement in urban farming? How do you view your role in bringing urban farming to your community setting? What is your definition of urban farming?
• What struggles have you faced in seeing your ideas come into reality at this workplace of yours? In what ways have these road-blocks stimulated your ambitions? Please detail your ambitions in regards to urban farming.
• How has the community supported you in maintaining the success of your farm? How do you involve the general public in something so against society's reliance on outsourcing?
• Do you relate the idea of urban farming to a trend or a modern-day saving grace? What cause (environmental, economic, etc.) does it most benefit in your opinion, and how can it become more of a staple of ‘everyday life’?
• How has your personal life integrated urban farming into its daily routine? Do you believe urban farming is/has been a keystone of the past or the future?
• What is the prime location of an urban farm and what resources are most needed by a citizen to start one up?
• Which method of urban farming - aquaponic or hydroponic - is most useful? Why? Have you been in contact with either method?
• How does one maximize the potential of an urban farm lot - regardless of its size in acrage?

→ If Scott is chosen…

• What makes having a farm on a college campus beneficial to the farm/more difficult for the situation?
  
  

Inquiry in pursuit of a diverse set of resources…

• How will the drought in California affect the prominence of urban farming in city-communities?
• Who has been your inspiration in your pursuit of urban farming? Where do you plan to continue your career? What career path interests you as of now?

Earthworks Farm is located in El Monte and has been bent on educating the public on how to re-connect with techniques that human ancestors used for sustenance (placing seeds in soil and watching them grow and produce edibles)

It seems that Savodaya Farms is out of the picture for learning the hands-on aspect of urban farming, giving that its farmer training program - a way to most utilize the farm's resources for my mentorship - takes place on weekdays during morning hours - when I must farm grades at school