How a Ventura Organization Connects the Community to Farms and Fields
For many consumers, a trip to the grocery store is just another errand. How many have the chance to connect with the farmers responsible for growing their food? The answer is only a select few – and that’s not good enough.
Enter Students for Eco Education and Agriculture (SEEAG), an organization in Ventura, Calif. that has been opening eyes
to agriculture since 2008. Over the years, SEEAG has positively impacted more than 100,000 students and community members. The organization provides educational programs across Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of agriculture for both youth and adults.
Caitlin Paulus-Case, Executive Director of SEEAG, said one of the organization’s core values is making agricultural education accessible to all.
“What makes SEEAG so unique is that all of our programs are offered 100 percent cost-free, so we’ve never charged a student, a teacher, a school or a community member a cent to participate. We believe that agricultural education should be a right and not a privilege and that everyone deserves to know how their food is grown and where it comes from,” she said.
SEEAG educates communities, primarily students, through a variety of engaging programs. These include its Farm-to-Food Lab program, designed for third graders; a STEM Career Pathways in Agriculture Program for middle and high school students; a Youth Wellness Initiative focused on nutrition; and Farm Day, an annual community outreach event that takes place in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
This past November, more than 15 farms and agricultural organizations participated in the 12th Annual Ventura County Farm Day. Attendees spent the day participating in free agricultural activities and tours, gaining valuable insight into the origins of their food and the effort involved in its production.
Farm Day empowers attendees to make more educated decisions about their food, Paulus-Case explained, while also highlighting the growers and innovators who are shaping the future of the food system and working to make it more sustainable.
“There’s so much misinformation and disinformation in our media about food, and there’s this overwhelming idea that big ag doesn’t care about their environment, community or workforce,” Paulus-Case said. “Farm Day allows people to come out and ask questions firsthand from the people who are growing their food, and it gives the farmers and farmworkers the opportunity to answer those questions and combat some of that misinformation.”
Western Growers member Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a leading producer of fresh vegetables and citrus, was a participant in this year’s Ventura County Farm Day. Founded in 1926, the same year as Western Growers, Duda has been a pillar of agricultural excellence for nearly a century and has been a dedicated participant in Farm Day since the start.
“For an organization that’s as large as Duda, recognizing and supporting the impact SEEAG has made over the years has been incredibly valuable and instrumental for our mission,” Paulus-Case said. “It goes a long way in making us reputable and helping other organizations understand the importance of what we do. They get it. They understand.”
Fifth-generation farmer Jackson Duda, Production Manager at Duda, said SEEAG’s Farm Day is an experience that is not only beneficial for the community, but also for growers.
“It’s always good to meet the community and answer people’s questions. You forget how much you know that those outside of ag don’t know, and how much more there is for everyone to learn. It’s great to see their curiosity, and it’s fun to be able to answer them,” Duda said.
Echoing Paulus-Case, Duda emphasized that many misconceptions surround the agriculture industry, and events like Farm Day provide a valuable opportunity for people to gain clarity straight from the source.
“If the community is curious, we need to embrace it,” he said. “They see our signs and trucks everywhere, and it’s good for them to meet us face-to-face. We’re a part of the community, so it’s good to open our doors. If your neighbors are curious about you, you should meet them. The more they know about you, they’ll think of you more favorably.”
Greg Lewis, Vice President of Duda Farm Fresh Foods, highlighted the importance of community connections as a key aspect of the company’s mission.
“Farming is at the very core of what Duda does, from land preparation, nursery production, irrigation, cultivation, fertilization and harvesting and processing of produce,” Lewis said. “That’s our job, but that’s not what we do. What we do is provide healthy fruits and vegetables for the citizens of our country and the world. Duda has been doing it for over 100 years.”
This long-standing commitment has shaped how Lewis views his role in advocating for agriculture. “I don’t consider myself as one who is leading the charge to educate the people, but if I’m put in a position where I can communicate the positive impact agriculture makes, I feel as though it’s a tide that raises all boats, irrespective of what crops you’re raising,” he said.
“We have a story to tell, and I think there is a great opportunity to tell that story,” Lewis said. “The efforts of SEEAG, and more specifically Farm Day, is one way to bridge that gap and educate the public and have them come onto the farm and have them touch and feel the nursery transplants that go into the field, have them walk on the field and observe our tractors preparing the ground for planting, have them watch a transplanter put young celery plants in the field. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if you bring someone to the field, you show them a movie in production. It’s worth a billion words.”
Building on this vision of connection and education, SEEAG is working to further its reach by expanding its food and agricultural literacy programs while encouraging more growers to participate and strengthen partnerships within their communities.
The organization is finalizing its Farm Day Every Day initiative, a year-round outreach program designed to deepen public understanding of local agriculture through free food literacy education and support for farms to participate in these vital activities. Through a community of supporters, Farm Day Every Day will keep the conversation about local agriculture alive, in-person and digitally throughout the year, all leading up to the annual Farm Day celebrations.
“The more in front of the community we are, the more we can support growers,” Paulus-Case said.