If young farmers and diabetes don’t seem like a natural pairing, just ask Lacey Baldiviez and Ben York. Baldiviez, the director of Goleta’s Fairview Gardens, has teamed up with York, the coordinator for a new project housed in the William Sansum Diabetes Center that prescribes vegetables to diabetes patients.
For Baldiviez, the partnership began as a way to give beginning farmers a leg up in an aging profession. “The median age of farmers is approaching 60,” Baldiviez said. And “it’s not really a career that the children of those farmers are interested in getting involved in.” But while there are young people interested in learning the trade, Baldiviez explained they often struggle to develop the skill set and business acumen required to successfully run a farm — knowledge that has traditionally been passed down through families, not formal training programs.
Now, Fairview Gardens’ Food System Entrepreneurship Academy is working to change that, a few candidates at a time. Beginning this March, two budding farmers will arrive at the Gardens for the program’s maiden voyage, where they’ll begin a six-month intensive introduction to the profession. They’ll learn about soil, tillage, plant pathology, and pest management—“and we haven’t even talked about the business side!” laughed Baldiviez. The apprentices will also learn the ins and outs of leasing and labor laws, insurance, and budgeting, eventually emerging with the beginnings of a formal business plan.