Urban Farm Project

Amount Awarded: $139,308.00 

Academic Year: 2023-2024 

Implementation: Active, Winter 2024 – Spring 2026

This grant funded the pilot of a 3-year urban farming program, to build community resilience by stewarding productive farm spaces where people can grow their own food, work to increase food access, and demonstrate how community vitality can grow through our food system. This project helps address deep food injustice and insecurity challenges in our region; one in five residents in Whatcom County are food insecure and over forty percent of Western students report experiencing some degree of food insecurity. 

The Urban Farm Project enhances student involvement and opportunities at City Sprout Farm, which is an important food access and education project in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood. City Sprouts became a program of WWU’s Center for Community Learning in 2023. This grant supports student employee wages for working on the farm, transportation funds to visit local food systems and farming projects, and funds for students to run a micro-farm project. Learn more about the farm.