By Elise Ong, August 25, 2026
The John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona is offering a new course this fall that will teach students techniques to plant and grow fresh produce that will then be donated to the Poly Pantry.
The class gives students the chance to grow a variety of crops, including fruits, vegetables and herbs, while practicing skills like planting, irrigation, pest control and growing techniques, according to a promotional flyer for the class. All produce grown in the class will be available for free at the Poly Pantry, a resource established in 2019 in the Bronco Student Center to provide free groceries and personal care items for those registered.
Taught by CPP alumnus and visiting Professor Arthur Levine, the Farm to Pantry class consists of a Monday lecture and a Friday lab, giving students in any major hands-on experience at the Lyle Center.
“Students are going to get a chance to work in the fall to winter garden, which is actually a very productive and important time for Southern California gardeners,” Levine said. “The camaraderie of working together and learning together while implementing a real-life project is a really exciting feature or aspect of the class that I hope students can get excited for.”
The partnership between the Lyle Center and the Poly Pantry began before the course was created. The two partnered in 2021 and started the Farm to Pantry Program dedicated to students growing food for students and creating a new source of produce for the Poly Pantry.
According to Associate Executive Director for Associated Students Inc. Krista Smith, 20 to 40 volunteers helped one Saturday a month to maintain and care for the farm at the Lyle Center that was growing produce for the Poly Pantry.
The group was awarded the One Team Award in 2023, which recognizes cross-departmental work to benefit the campus community.
Now as a course, the Farm to Pantry Program will continue to foster the relationship between the Lyle Center and the Poly Pantry with the concept of students feeding students. According to ASI Executive Director Liz Roosa Millar, President Vanya Quiñones has been supportive in the team’s vision of using the model and resources available to serve more students.
“It’s not staff doing it; it’s not professionals,” said Sustainability and Operations Lead Deborah Scheider. “It’s students running the farm and students growing food for students. They’re making a difference not only in their own lives but in the lives of those people in their community.”
One of the key values taught at the Lyle Center is the use of regenerative methods, referring to the practice of gardening to renew and provide for future generations. According to the course flyer, those methods will be practiced with hopes of moving toward a sustainable future.
In addition to teaching regenerative methods, Levine said students will also learn about equity, justice and community building.
“For us here at the Lyle Center, that’s really important,” Scheider said. “It connects to not just the land, it includes the land, but it includes the people, the community. Our future is embedded not only in our soil and our air but also in our people. We can’tget anywhere without that.”
As a fan of practical skill-based learning, Levine said he is excited to teach the valuable life skill of growing food, one he says can be exercised for the rest of one’s life at home, in a community, a market or even one’s own garden.
Levine said he is also excited to teach how growing food can connect oneself to more complex living and support cycles in surrounding ecosystems.
After learning about the class, Levine said he felt he had to be the one to teach it because of his background and connection with the Lyle Center. Now, as the professor, Levine encourages all students to get involved regardless of their major and said he feels the class really fulfills CPP’s become by doing initiative.
“It’s something that I’m really passionate about,” Levine said. “I think that once you get a chance to plant a seed, watch it grow, take care of it and grow something from your own work, it is really transformative and life changing.”
