MCC adds urban agriculture specialty to horticulture program

With the popular movement toward more locally grown foods and in many cases, smaller farms, along with agriculture inside the city - think rooftop gardens - McHenry County College's newly-added Urban Agriculture specialty degree option gives students an opportunity to pursue careers in the growing field of small-scale food crop production.

Students pursuing an associate in applied science degree in horticulture can choose either floral design, greenhouse, landscape or the newly-added urban agriculture as their specialty option. According to MCC's horticulture department Chairman Bruce Spangenberg, urban agriculture provides in-depth study of fruit and vegetable crops, which is food crop horticulture.

"Urban agriculture, or intensive small-scale crop production, is very big in the field of horticulture now and gives students an opportunity to learn more and pursue careers in the field," Spangenberg said.

In addition to learning how to grow fruit and vegetable crops organically or with minimum use of chemicals, MCC urban agriculture students are introduced to hydroponics and get an overview of composting and soil building, maximizing use of production areas, organic pest control, extending the growing season, standards and laws, and marketing.

On a recent afternoon, Rich Tobiasz's Organic and Sustainable Practices class visited the Loyola Retreat and Ecology Campus in Woodstock for a tour of the farm, which is as close to a sustainable food operation as you can get. They were guided by farm manager Emily Zack, an MCC graduate. The following week, the class visited a compost facility at Midwest Organics Recycling in McHenry.

"This organic and sustainable practices class is important both from the growing need for organically produced food, but from the perspective of so many people wanting to know how their food is grown and how it's grown without using synthetic pesticides," Tobiasz said.

"The common understanding is that (organic plants) are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides," Tobiasz said. "By sustainability, it means more than just keeping the farm going and being profitable - sustainability also deals with the environment and community."

Tobiasz, who serves as fire chief for the Spring Grove Fire Protection District, has been teaching various classes off and on at MCC since the 1970s, including EMT and paramedic classes. He earned his master's degree in crop science from the University of Illinois and has been a Master Gardener for 13 years. This is his first time teaching horticulture.

"There are many people who say you cannot feed the world organically," Tobiasz said. "That may be true if you consider that we would need a lot more farmers to do so. The one take-away I'd like students to remember is that growing organic is sustainable and a viable method of growing food (and plants) that is sustainable, which means no petroleum products."

For Hailie Ignoffo of Fox Lake, the urban ag option appealed to her as a career.

"Everybody is vegan in my family and we try to grow our own vegetables at my parents' home in Johnsburg. We try to be as sustainable as possible. I am looking to have my own hydroponics business after graduation next May."

David Latter of Johnsburg echoed Hailie's comments. "My family comes from the restaurant business and I took this urban ag option because I eventually want to start my own organic farm."

Retired social worker Cheryl LaSarre-Gaddis has been growing organically for 30 years at her Crystal Lake home. As a Master Gardener, she hopes to teach organic gardening to fellow members and community members.