My parents are big gardeners, so when I go home in the summer there’s always something fresh to eat. I never appreciated this as a kid (except for the wild berries in the backyard), but now I think it’s pretty awesome. Gardening is not only a great source of healthy food, but it can also be an extraordinary education tool. That’s why Urban Sprouts, which is based in San Francisco, CA, is using gardening to grow “healthy schools and communities.” It started as “a doctoral thesis project conducted at Luther Burbank Middle School during the 2003-04 school year,” but it was so successful that the school begged them to continue and expand the program.

Sprout Your Career

Since it started, Urban Sprouts has served nearly 4,000 kids, while also getting their families involved. This is important because the kids that participate in Urban Sprouts programs stand to gain a lot. 60% come from low-income families, and “90% failed to reach physical fitness standards in 2006.” Now Urban Sprouts offers three distinct programs including School Gardens and Nutrition Education, Family Involvement Program, and Summer Sprouts Program. If you really want to learn more about these programs and how Urban Sprouts is delivering positive results, you should read the organization’s five year report. There’s a ton of information in there, and it’s a must read if you want to consider a job with Urban Sprouts. Right now they have a Garden Educator position posted on Idealist. It’s only part-time, but the pay looks to be pretty decent. Take a look and see if it’s something you can grow into.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• UrbanSprouts.org
• Jobs at Urban Sprouts (Idealist)
• About Urban Sprouts
• Staff at Urban Sprouts
• Urban Sprouts’ Programs
• Urban Sprouts’ History

Do you have a garden?

We've identified Urban Sprouts as having career opportunities in the following categories:

• all employers
• California
• education
• food
• gardening
• horticulture
• non-profit
• plant science
• program development
• teaching

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