{"id":1061,"date":"2026-07-29T09:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2026-07-29T09:09:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:09:30","slug":"more-than-just-growing-food-my-visit-to-the-kpu-richmond-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/2026\/07\/29\/more-than-just-growing-food-my-visit-to-the-kpu-richmond-farm\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than Just Growing Food: My Visit to the KPU Richmond Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before our Green Criminology field trip to the KPU Richmond Farm, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I thought we would just walk around the farm and learn a little about how vegetables are grown. Instead, I left with a completely different perspective on farming, sustainability, and how they connect to Green Criminology.<\/span><\/p>\n

My classmate and I were paired with Nathan, a Sustainable Agriculture student, who gave us a tour of the farm. We started in the market garden, where produce is grown to be sold. Nathan showed us different tools, like the half moon for removing weeds while standing up and the wire weeder used inside the high tunnels. It was interesting to see how much planning and care goes into growing food in a sustainable way.<\/span><\/p>\n

One area that really stood out to me was the compost area behind the greenhouse. Nathan explained that weeds and produce affected by bugs aren’t simply thrown away, but they’re composted and returned to the soil. We also learned about the irrigation system, which slowly drips water directly into the soil to reduce waste. Seeing these small but thoughtful practices made me realize that sustainability is often built through everyday choices.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also visited the learning garden, where volunteers and children come to learn about gardening. I liked seeing this part of the farm because it showed that it’s not just a place to grow food, but it’s also a place to teach people about sustainable agriculture and caring for the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before taking this course, I never would have connected a farm visit to criminology. However, this experience helped me understand that Green Criminology is about more than just environmental crimes. As Rob White explains in <\/span>Critical Green Criminology<\/span><\/i><\/a>, we should think about environmental harm and its effects on people, animals, and ecosystems, not just whether something is illegal. Walking around the farm, I could actually see these ideas in practice through composting, water conservation, and responsible farming methods.<\/span><\/p>\n

I also thought about <\/span>Food Crime and Green Criminology<\/span><\/i><\/a> by Tourangeau and Fitzgerald, which explains that green criminology encourages us to look at food systems in terms of environmental and social harms, not only legal ones. The KPU farm showed me what a more responsible and sustainable food system can look like.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trip also reminded me of a website I created for another KPU course called <\/span>Restoring Food Sovereignty<\/span><\/i><\/a>. While the website focuses on Indigenous food sovereignty, I found myself making connections between those ideas and what I saw at the farm. Both emphasize respecting the land and building sustainable food systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing I didn’t expect this class to do was make me think differently about my own life. My parents actually own a farm here, but I’ve always thought of it as somewhere we go during vacations. After visiting the KPU Richmond Farm, I realized there’s probably a lot I could learn by spending more time there. This field trip didn’t just change how I think about farming, it also made me appreciate it in a whole new way.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/b><\/h2>\n

White, R. <\/span>Critical Green Criminology.<\/span><\/i> Course reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tourangeau, W., & Fitzgerald, A. <\/span>Food Crime and Green Criminology.<\/span><\/i> Course reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Website referenced: <\/span>Restoring Food Sovereignty<\/span><\/i>.<\/span> https:\/\/restoringfoodsovereignty.weebly.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Generative AI acknowledgment:<\/b> I used ChatGPT to help organize and edit this blog post based on my own notes, reflections, and experiences from the KPU Richmond Farm field trip.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before our Green Criminology field trip to the KPU Richmond Farm, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I thought we would just walk around the farm and learn a little about how vegetables are grown. Instead, I left with a completely different perspective on farming, sustainability, and how they connect to Green Criminology. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1513,"featured_media":1060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-published"],"splot_meta":{"author":"JJ Jhajj","license":"","footer":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1513"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1062,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1061\/revisions\/1062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.kpu.ca\/green-criminology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}