The UW Farm. Oh what a place.

I was first introduced to the farm in August before my freshman year of college. I grew up with 18 raised beds in our backyard in Oregon that produced more vegetables than our family of four could use. My mom would fill baskets with the extra kale, peppers, tomatoes, lettuces, eggplants, cucumbers, and squash and send my brother and I off around the neighborhood to deliver the goodies. Now, beginning my first year of college, I have begun to look at the traditions that I want to carry with me into adulthood. The growing, cooking, and sharing of food is one of these traditions that I hold dear. Naturally, this led me to the UW Farm and I am so grateful that it did. As a freshman, living in the Mercer Court Apartments allows me—along with other residents—to directly connect with the farm. Every day I get to walk by and appreciate the fact that UW made a point to set aside land when designing new student housing. I think that students living in close proximity to a fully functioning urban farm are inspired to get involved, I know I am!

The farm is a beautiful place to connect to food and the community that surrounds it. It is the grounds on which people are encouraged to come together for a common purpose. Shortly after the fall quarter began, I was hired in the kitchen at Cultivate – a UW run restaurant that sources much of its produce from the UW Farm. Initially, I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to land in that position. With the UW Farm I volunteer working the gardens to seed, cultivate, and eventually harvest the produce for our community. I also work at a restaurant where I get to cook the food that I just helped to grow. DREAM COME TRUE. At the farm people are passionate about growing and educating people about food, while at the restaurant I have the chance to encourage people to be critical about where their food comes from. It’s a true “farm to table” experience on a large scale.

For a long time now, I have been very interested in our country’s current agriculture system. I hope to earn a B.S in Environmental Science with a focus on our food systems. Currently, our agricultural system is incredibly unsustainable and often allowed to be so because of government subsidies. As our population around the world continues to grow, our arable land shrinks. Not to mention the growing lack of availability of freshwater for large-scale agriculture. As a result, we must begin to find ways to produce food more effectively and efficiently while still respecting the natural ecosystems that we rely.
By working at both the UW Farm and Cultivate I can be fully immersed in a system that is, in many ways, a sort of microcosm of food production and distribution. This, supplemented with my UW educational track, is allowing me to understand the challenges and solutions of food production on a worldwide scale.

I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to stop by the farm and pitch in. You might even walk away with some veggies and a new perspective on the food you eat.

Maya Garber-Yontz is a freshman at the UW pursuing a degree in Environmental Science with a focus on food systems. We first met Maya when she was taking a tour of her new apartment at Mercer Court, before she even moved in. Maya jumped right into the farm community as soon as she set foot at the UW, and we’re so lucky to have her.