Riverside’s Northside neighborhood is poised for a revolution in sustainable farming with the groundbreaking of the Northside Agricultural Innovation Center.
Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock-Dawson spoke at the ceremony, underscoring the center's promise to transform agriculture through climate-smart technology, job creation, and local innovation.
“This center reinvents our cultural practices, and will boost our workforce, foster innovation in agri-tech, and create businesses in sustainable agriculture and food production. Through this project, once again, Riverside is showing the world how to lead, with clean and green technology.
The center will include 50,000 square feet of greenhouses, 14,000 square feet of solar panels, and a community garden. It’s a project that’s been years in the making, with support from city officials, private partners, and significant funding, including a $10 million grant.
Here’s Ward 1 Councilman, Philip Falcone
“So this is really, in essence, a living laboratory of what we're doing here, and it's the first of its kind in the United States when it comes to the solar powered greenhouses and solar panels over farm fields, all of that we here in Riverside, as the mayor had alluded to, are charting that course and what, what's really an exciting piece about it is one megawatt of renewable energy actually will be returned to the grid, in addition to supporting all the work that we do here.”
The center is expected to provide hands-on training for 135 individuals annually, prepare new farmers, and launch 25 businesses over the next decade. Partners from various sectors, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Lamplighter Energy, are investing in the project, which promises to be a national model for sustainable urban agriculture.
A key part of this project is the land itself. Shirley Sanematsu, whose family farmed the land for three generations, spoke about the emotional connection her family has to this space.
“I was born and raised here. My grandfather and grandmother farmed it with their six kids from the 20s, from actually 1918, all the way through. My father farming it into the 90s. Early 90s, it started as an egg farm, and when my dad and his five siblings were growing up, they were tasked with bringing produce out to neighbors during the Depression to help the community.”
The Northside Agricultural Innovation Center will serve as a vibrant hub for green innovation and economic growth, preparing a new generation of highly skilled agricultural workers through a UCR University Extension-certified training program in sustainable farming and controlled-environment agriculture. In addition to workforce development, the center will provide residents with access to open spaces and a gathering place for cultural events.
For KVCR News, I’m Jessica Greenwell