In Ojai, an Example of Peaceful Coexistence

The recent spraying of toxic pesticides on crops near a Ventura County school sickened some children and alarmed parents. It also highlighted a growing conflict between schools and agriculture. Solutions that would benefit all are difficult to achieve but answers clearly are needed.

Let’s imagine a best-case alternative. Imagine schools and agriculture growing healthily together. One example of peaceful coexistence between farmers and neighbors is in the Upper Ojai Valley.

At Happy Valley School, farmer Steve Sprinkel grows organic vegetables on four acres adjacent to the school’s grounds.

“We have a tremendously fertile overlap with the school” says Sprinkel, 51, who has farmed in this area since the 1970s. “There’s quite a cross-pollination between the school’s curriculum and the running of the farm.”

The students come to see what’s growing in the fields, which lie along a pathway linking the school’s upper and lower campuses. Students, faculty and school personnel are exposed to the whole process of growing a diverse array of organic vegetables. And from late winter until late spring, the fields are green with seasonal vegetables such as broccoli, kale, onions and peas.

As part of their biology and environmental science studies, the students help with the planting, cultivation and harvesting in the vegetable areas and have become familiar with the tools and methods used in organic agriculture.

A synergy occurs between Sprinkel’s farming operations and the school’s environmental program, which allows the Happy Valley community to supplement its diet with locally grown organic food. By the time they eat it, students have learned lessons in botany, entomology, soils, diet and nutrition.

Such hands-on application of the physical sciences provides peace of mind for all concerned, chiefly because dangerous materials are not stored at the school or used on the crops.

The value of food production is another lesson learned, and the enjoyment of fresher, more nutritious crops is another aspect of community building in this rural setting.

The school’s support for organic agriculture is part of its permaculture plan, which includes orchards of apples, pears, citrus and avocados. Science students have garden beds for experimental plantings as well as their own row crops.

“We are happy to get out of the classroom and work on the land,” says Boe Keratichewanah an exchange student from Thailand. “We learn about our ecosystems by working with them to grow our own food.”

When schools support nontoxic agriculture and students help to grow their own food, they learn to invest effort and energy in supporting a diet healthy for both themselves and their community.

Happy Valley students are taught to imagine a future world in which toxic chemicals are no longer in their lives. The Sprinkel farm is a commercially viable, productive and pleasant environment in which passersby on horseback or on foot do not come in contact with spray drift. Where, through composting, mulching and growing diverse species, fertility and abundance are achieved without the danger and alienation associated with most commercial agriculture.

“If we don’t have to farm with toxics, why do it?” Sprinkel asks. “Not that such alternative practices can be adopted overnight. But if we are going to have a voter-mandated protection of our agricultural heritage [under Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) anti-sprawl laws], how can we achieve this within arm’s reach of housing and commerce and public places like a kindergarten playground?”

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A working knowledge of how to grow food without toxic chemicals seems essential for a safe future. Imagine an organic boundary around schools and a public mandate to purchase the products of the land for consumption in the school cafeterias, at prices that would protect the farmers.

Sprinkel is developing an outreach program for schools located where the agricultural interface causes friction.

We must design a system that takes into account the needs of all the stakeholders. Farmers need strong, steady income in the face of global competition. Farm workers need healthy places to work, places where they feel safe and are proud to remain.

Essential to that system is access to the best information for reducing or eliminating toxic substances near school grounds as well as residential neighborhoods.

“Around 140 people live and work at Happy Valley,” Sprinkel said. “It’s a clear joy to be able to share the beauty of our production areas in this fine setting without having to apologize over chemical nuisances.”