Once a damaged 55-acre plot, the farm\u2019s co-founders saw its potential years ago to usher urban farming into the Sacramento area. <\/p>\n
Now Soil Born is a leading authority in the region\u2019s urban farming community. Its animal barn will expand its breadth and be run by students in nearby Cordova High School\u2019s agriculture academy.<\/p>\n
![\"tractors\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07405-1024x683.jpg\")
Construction of the animal barn pavilion at Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
At a small house on Soil Born\u2019s historic ranch property, an \u201cOffice\u201d sign was posted on the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you knock?\u201d Shawn Harrison said, a smile on his face, opening the door. \u201cNo one knocks around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some days Harrison identifies as a nonprofit director, other times an organic farmer or a community developer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople ask, what do I do?\u201d said Harrison, who is officially founder and co-director of Soil Born Farms. \u201cI can never land on any specific answer to that question.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07330-1024x576.jpg\")
Shawn Harrison, founder and co-director of Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
25 years in, next chapter drafted <\/p>\n
Soil Born celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. In the nonprofit\u2019s next chapter, it aims to fully evolve into a world-class regenerative farm and education and demonstration center \u2014 the type of place Harrison wants to see in every city in America, like schools, churches and ballparks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the Sacramento region, Southeast Asian immigrants have long practiced urban farming informally. Other groups, like Soil Born, have joined the effort to advance the practice. These farmers, while still small in number, show how growing food in a city can serve residents through improved food access, connection with the natural environment, cultural ties for immigrants and refugees, self-sufficiency, healthier diets and workforce training.<\/p>\n
The past two-plus decades have been filled with milestones as urban farming takes root \u2014 along with barriers, frustration and heartache.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years ago, the region hadn\u2019t yet embraced sustainable food and agriculture as a primary asset. Today, the urban farming ecosystem has changed \u2014 and Soil Born along with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re 180 degrees from where we were when we really started,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cThe fact that it even exists at all, that kind of blows my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2018Big believers in place\u2019<\/p>\n
Harrison has spent most of his life living and working within a 3-mile radius around the American River. He grew up in Rancho Cordova and Carmichael and enjoyed \u201call the normal boy things\u201d in childhood, he said.<\/p>\n
The American River was a defining part of that, the place where he would fish and swim and ride bikes along the trail, its riparian ecosystem speeding past in his side view. He desired to be a good steward of the Earth. He also dealt with health issues, which he traces to dietary habits within a family experiencing heart disease, obesity and diabetes. His career operates at this nexus of diet and health, the natural world and a deep sense of place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re big believers in place,\u201d Harrison said, collectively speaking for both Soil Born co-founder Janet Whalen Zeller and himself. \u201cIt\u2019s a defining belief set for me \u2014\u00a0make the places where you live and work better. Don\u2019t move around so much. Make a connection. \u2026 If you put your roots down, you can certainly have a better chance of positively impacting your community.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a college student in the 1990s, Harrison hung around with friends who discussed burgeoning interests in sustainable agriculture, turning one of the most destructive human activities, farming, into something positive. He met a man named Marco Franciosa in 1997 when both completed ecological horticulture apprenticeships at UC Santa Cruz.<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07567-1024x683.jpg\")
Farm Manager Thomas Lyons mowing a field on Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
Soil Born effort began in 2000<\/p>\n
In 2000, they started Soil Born Farms as a for-profit business on Hurley Way in Arden Arcade, mainly growing certified-organic produce for local markets. They met Zeller in 2002 and became a nonprofit in 2004, adding education and food access programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The founders cradled the idea of a food system that supports health and well-being, with a connection between people and the natural world. They believed deep down that a farm in a city setting made sense.<\/p>\n
After a four-year journey to secure a lease and move, programming at its current site along the American River started in 2008.<\/p>\n
![\"Farm](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07548-1024x683.jpg\")
Crops at Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re not that far off\u2019<\/p>\n
The ranch is now permanently protected and closer to becoming a world-class regenerative farm and education\/demonstration center for food, health and the environment, Harrison said. \u201cWe\u2019re not that far off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Soil Born uses certified-organic and regenerative farming methods to protect the soil and grow produce for local schools, food pantries, restaurants, grocery stores, its farm stand and an online marketplace. It offers over 140 classes and workshops annually for adults, hosts volunteer activities and educates thousands of youths through school gardens, field trips, summer camps and internships.<\/p>\n
![\"Signs](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07108-1024x683.jpg\")
Signs at Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n
Partnerships abound<\/p>\n
A key Soil Born program incorporates school gardens, nutrition education and Sacramento City Unified School District lunches. For this initiative, Soil Born partners with the district\u2019s Central Kitchen<\/a>, where school meals are prepared using local sourcing, including lettuce from Soil Born.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07469-1024x683.jpg\")
Stuart Burke-Jones washing leafy greens at Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DSC07357-1024x683.jpg\")
Nursery plants at Soil Born Farms. (Tyler Bastine)<\/p>\n