Campus News
UC Santa Cruz celebrates 50 years of organic farming
The three-day celebration culminated with a joyful dinner presided over by famed chef, restaurateur, and organic food advocate Alice Waters.
A half century of pioneering work in organic farming was evident this past weekend as hundreds of farmers, educators, scientists, and alumni gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Alan Chadwick Garden—and all that has followed.
The three-day celebration culminated with a joyful dinner presided over by famed chef, restaurateur, and organic food advocate Alice Waters.
“I wonder if you know how many businesses like mine buy food from people who are taking care of the land who were educated here at Santa Cruz,” Waters told a crowd of 500 people gathered at long tables outside the historic Hay Barn as they dined on organic fare. “This all comes from Alan Chadwick.”
The founder of the garden that today bears his name, Chadwick was a master gardener who introduced organic farming and gardening techniques to the campus and sparked a movement that would spread those principles far and wide—decades before anyone coined the phrase “sustainable agriculture.”
Jim Nelson of Camp Joy Gardens in the San Lorenzo Valley said Chadwick influenced his decision to become an organic farmer and prompted him to turn his farm into a classroom. Nelson met Chadwick in 1967, just as the back-to-the-land movement was brewing.
“Last night, we were all talking about various aspects of Alan’s personality, which was big,” Nelson said, laughing. “The thing that really sticks out was his generosity.” Chadwick had the patience and generosity that are staples of all great educators, said Nelson.
The weekend featured a full slate of events, including tours of the Farm & Garden, community workshops, a symposium featuring graduates of the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture, and reunions for Nelson and others who studied under Chadwick and his successors.
One of the hallmarks of what is now the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), the apprenticeship is a rigorous six-month residential program that immerses participants in hands-on farming and gardening techniques, as well as the scientific underpinnings of sustainable farming. Over the years, the focus has broadened to include social justice issues, such as fair wages and safe working conditions for those involved in food production.