EdCC offers program on sustainable agriculture

  • By Mina Williams The Herald Business Journal
  • Wednesday, August 20, 2014 8:30pm
  • Business

LYNNWOOD — When looking for a job, just look down.

That’s the advice of Jason Niebler, director of Edmonds Community College’s new Sustainable Agriculture Education program.

“Growing food can happen in residential and community gardens, rooftops, even parking lots,” Niebler said. “There is nothing but opportunity. We need people to produce food and opportunities are emerging daily.”

The Sustainable Agriculture Education program, started at the college last winter, aims to teach people how to grow food, harvest it in a manageable way, market the product and deal with compostable material.

“Consumers want to be more connected to their food and are looking for options to reduce the distance food travels through to market,” Niebler said.

People can use the skills taught in the program to get jobs in production, processing or distribution on farms or at food banks, commercial greenhouses or hydroponic operations.

Niebler also envisions people starting their own firms— such as an edible landscaper— or becoming consultants or educators.

One of the students is Marni Swart, who is also a program assistant. She said the nation must overhaul its food policy and the program will help her teach others.

“(I entered the program) because I want to educate myself so that I can educate others,” Swart said. “Our food system has to change and I want to be a constructive part of the solution, not just someone who sits around complaining.”

Niebler spent several years in Latin America and when he returned, he noted an increased consumer interest in sustainable food and organics.

This spurred him to explore developing an educational program. He and the college received a $900,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to start an urban agriculture program.

EdCC is working in partnership with Skagit Valley College, Seattle Central Community College and Washington State University to develop the program to prepare students for emerging green careers in sustainable agriculture and related environmental fields.

The program aims to develop new and improve existing community college curriculum; offer field-based research and real-world service and internship opportunities; design education and career pathways from secondary school through two- and four-year institutions.

It also aims to establish a metro and rural student farm in cooperation with farm partners; and expand the collaborative throughout Puget Sound to demonstrate a bioregional model for sustainable agriculture education and community development.

The Sustainable Agriculture Education Program offers three different certifications ranging from a 15-credit micro-certificate to a 40-credit program that can be completed within one year.

Students have the opportunity to continue coursework through transfers to Washington State University, The Evergreen State College or Antioch University.

Edmonds Community College also has partnered with Pinchot University, a graduate studies institution in Seattle, offering students a seminar series on developing a business plan and acquiring capital.

Putting practice to work, the program has space within the college’s Community Farm, a pocket-sized garden full of raised beds, edible trees and shrubs, bee-loving flowers, an edible rain garden and a hoop house.

Students also have access to seminars with experts and working professionals.

Internships round out students’ access to the workings of food banks, edible landscaping, green house businesses, aquaculture and food hub processing.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.