Zenger Farm- Portland, OR by Diane

August 10, 2007

Our day in Portland started off with an early-morning visit to Bob’s Red Mill, for breakfast with Bob and to tour the facilities. Afterward, we headed over to Zenger Farm to tour the grounds and see all the amazing things Friends of Zenger Farm (FZF) are doing. Our tour guide was FZF Executive Director Beth, who happened to also be at the dinner the evening before at Ayers Creek Farm.

Zenger Farm is an urban farm – it’s within the city of Portland and consists of six acres of farm and ten acres of wetlands in the Lents neighborhood. It’s used as both a farm and educational center. Last year, over 3,000 children from kindergarten through twelfth grade visited the farm to learn sustainable farming practices. The day we were there, a week-long farm camp for 6-8 year olds was coming to a close, so the children were busily preparing lunch from food they’d harvested on the farm and were getting ready to serve it to their parents. At the camp, the children learn about the process of farming and are encouraged to get their hands dirty and work with the land. Zenger also has a cooking camp for 9-12 year olds where the children learn everything from knife skills to harvesting food.

Using a farm as an educational center is an excellent way to teach children at an early age about where their food comes from. I think this type of experience can leave life-long impressions that will help children to continue to eat healthy through their adult years.

That in itself is enough to make me want to visit the farm, but in addition, the farm also runs a CSA (community supported agriculture) program with 300 members, has a co-op program set up with Heifer International so people can come take care of the chickens and also get a portion of the eggs, works with immigrant families so they can grow their traditional foods for themselves and families – with any extra being sold by the farm, and manages a farmers market at 92nd and Foster in Portland.

Then, to top all that, they’re making the buildings on the farm as sustainable as possible. They’re making their own water by catching rainwater and filtering it, and they get so much energy out of their solar panels that they are actually feeding electricity back into the grid.

This is probably one of the most sustainable places I’ve ever visited, not just in terms of food or electricity but because they’re reaching out into different people’s lives in the community and bringing them together through the farm. By working with children, immigrants, CSA members, and customers at farmers markets, they’re reaching a wide variety of Portland residents, thus giving themselves a large audience in which to get their message of sustainability out.

This farm and educational center is a great model for other interested farms to look at.

Want to read more about our events today?

Bob's Red Mill
The Real Dirt on Farmer John and a Pie and a Pint
Plate and Pitchfork
Growing Gardens

Article Tag(s):

If you are interested in commenting on this blog, please go to our forum...