Urban AgParks ToolKit​

Sustainable Ag Education (SAGE)

BAE has worked with SAGE for nearly a decade on a series of projects aimed at promoting sustainable urban agriculture. One of SAGE's focuses is on reusing publicly-owned land in urban areas for sustainable small farms, including initiatives to link low-income and immigrant communities with agricultural employment opportunities.

To commence this initiative, SAGE and BAE authored a Toolkit to describe the Ag Parks concept - subdividing parcels into small farm plots that can grow sustainable food products in urban areas. Larger than a community garden, Ag Parks provide common full-scale agricultural tools, equipment, water, and agricultural management to restore neglected public lands. The Toolkit profiles more than a dozen different types of farm operations, including governance models, economic analysis of prototype projects, and funding sources.

SAGE has implemented a demonstration Ag Park on watershed lands owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) in an unincorporated area of central Alameda County known as Sunol. Here, a 25-acre plot is subdivided into five-acre lots to provide farming opportunities to several Oakland-based non-profit organizations. The Sunol Ag Park also provides educational sessions to area high schools, and apprenticeships to young adults interested in farming as a career.

Janet Smith-Heimer, Managing Principal of BAE, served as the Founding Board Chair of SAGE, guiding this organization from inception through its early growth phase as a non-profit dedicated to sustainable agriculture education and implementation.