The term “student driven agriculture” does not yield much research or results. Variations of the term, like student farming and agriculture education, do exist, though these usually focus on animal husbandry and clubs. For the purpose of my research, I am only examining student agriculture as it exists with crop cultivation and within the regular school context. Defining this term is difficult without a wealth of research and terminology on which I can base interviews and experiences. 

In order to narrow down the scope of research for this project, it is important to consider non-examples of student driven agriculture (SDA). Two of the main aspects of student farming that frequently come up in research are Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4H. These organizations offer secondary students a chance to engage in agricultural work through their school. Often the FFA has students raising animals or growing crops in order to participate in fairs and contests. Similarly, 4-H offers agriculture programs for youth to connect them with agricultural sciences from crop planning and soil science to veterinary medicine (4-h.org). While these organizations are an incredible opportunity to bring students into agriculture and expose them to farming practices, students must have access to farming spaces and be enrolled in agricultural education programs in order to partake (ffa.org). Seeing as these programs are not accessible to all students, they cannot be considered in developing student driven agriculture as a part of a schooling experience. Rather, they are more applicable to rural students or utilized as an extracurricular.

An ideal situation for developing student driven agriculture would be an accessible space for students to engage in this work. School gardens give students a workable environment without even having to leave their campus, which is the overwhelming ideal. Unfortunately, it can be hard to develop school gardens, especially at a secondary level where open outdoor spaces are already rather limited. Developing student agricultural access at a secondary level is the crucial first step in creating student driven agriculture in schools. Ideally, each school would have their own functional garden space for students to work in, with opportunity for educators to conduct classes in the garden. The reality is that few high schools in Bellingham have a functional agricultural space on campus, and while Options High School has access to the WeGrow Garden, this is still a couple of blocks walk away.