Get a taste of the Treasure Valley and College of Western Idaho (CWI) during this year’s Farm to Fork event Friday, Oct. 9. Hosted by CWI’s Agricultural Sciences department, the event will feature a five-course meal with produce grown in CWI’s Urban Market Garden and specialties from local partners.
The event returns this year at the new Nampa Campus Agricultural Sciences Complex, where attendees can tour the Urban Market Garden, meet the chef and connect with local partners before dinner.
“We are thrilled to bring this event back to our community and support the College’s new Urban Market Garden,” said Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor of Agriculture Sciences, Andrea Farner. “This project is a true labor of love, and it brings us immense joy to provide students with the opportunity to harvest vegetables, educate them about agriculture, and contribute to the availability of fresh, nutritious food for them and their families.”
The Urban Market Garden opened in Fall 2025 alongside the Nampa Campus Agricultural Sciences Complex, expanding on CWI’s previous Campus Garden.
Farner created the original garden on a plot of land east of the Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) in 2018 after a campus survey found that more than 40% of CWI students experienced some form of food insecurity.
Now located at the Agricultural Sciences Complex, the Urban Market Garden includes two acres designed to reflect urban agriculture in the Treasure Valley. Faculty, staff, students and Technical Advisory Committee members collaborated on its development.
The Urban Market Garden gives students a place to put what they learn into practice while working with a variety of crops. The garden includes berry production areas, vegetable plots filled with herbs, squash, tomatoes and peppers, and a growing fruit orchard with apples, pears and peaches. Students take part in planting, irrigation, pruning fruit trees and crop management, gaining hands-on experience with the work involved in growing and maintaining food crops.
Produce grown in the garden is also used to support students with fresh fruits and vegetables, with plans for a campus storefront in the future.
The garden is incorporated into Agricultural Science coursework, giving students opportunities to learn about food choices and supporting local agriculture.
Friday, Oct. 9
This year’s event will be held at CWI’s Nampa Campus Agricultural Sciences Complex.
Urban Market Garden Tour
5 – 6 p.m.
Tour the garden, meet the chef and talk with local partners contributing to the event.
Dinner
6 – 8 p.m.
Enjoy a five-course meal paired with beverages.
Those interested in supporting the Urban Market Garden can make a monetary donation through CWI’s Give Now page. Select Agricultural Sciences Complex as the gift designation.
