Seeds of Success: Rooting Farm-Based Education and Research Centers in Evidence-Based Best Practices

In a world intricately connected by agriculture, farm-based education and research holds an important role. Amid declining agricultural literacy rates and a growing interest in the origins of sustainably produced food, farm-based education and research centers emerge as crucial bridges, providing experiential, interdisciplinary learning rooted in local contexts. They foster enduring impacts on local and regional food systems, while also acting as laboratories for sustainable agricultural practices. This report explores what makes these types of institutions successful. It examines these organizations' impact on food systems through a combination of primary and secondary research, and identifies gaps and opportunities within these organizations' spheres of influence. Ultimately, it puts forward a novel "Framework for farm-based education and research centers" to help inform and inspire leaders of these organizations. To design this report, researchers examined the existing literature on farm-based education to understand themes, trends, and evidence-based approaches. Additionally, they conducted extensive research on 16 farm-based centers across the United States by analyzing publicly available information. The researchers supplemented this review by interviewing 10 of the 16 organizations to contextualize the wealth of data collected from secondary sources. This research sought to understand the attributes of more inclusive and impactful approaches to farm-based education and research centers. It offers insights into best practices in farm-based education that can catalyze transformational food systems change by delivering a framework of actionable components designed by, and for, food system educators.