Phoenix’s new Urban Agriculture Fellowship Program will pair nine residents between the ages of 18 to 24 with local farms
They will pay them to work and study under some of the most knowledgeable growers in Arizona.
By Chris Malloy
The Counter
02.01.2022
Excerpt:
In Phoenix, Arizona, where the average age of a principal farm operator is 61 years old, local growers have had trouble finding apprentices. In an effort to help urban farms and kickstart a new wave of urban farmers, the city has launched The Urban Agriculture Fellowship Program, which will match nine Phoenix residents between the ages of 18 to 24 with nine local farms. The program is part of the city’s Phoenix Resilient Food System Program, an initiative to “develop a stronger, connected local food system with more sustainable food options for Phoenix residents” enabled by $9.7 million in federal funding under the American Rescue Plan Act. Fellows will receive $15 an hour to work and train on their respective farm for 20 hours a week.
“For the longest time, the food system has been aware of a confluence of factors that have really put the squeeze on small farms in the city of Phoenix,” said Joseph Rossell, who oversees the fellowship program as Food Systems Program Manager with the city. Rossell cited labor shortages, zoning restrictions, “a general lack of understanding and support in local governments,” and climate change as additional factors hurting local farms.
