How a Northeastern Graduate Is Providing Boston School Children a Unique Urban Farming Experience

Oliver Homberg, from the Boston Youth Farming Project, harvested pea shoots, sunflower shoots and micro basil with students and prepared a salad at South Boston Catholic Academy on May 31, 2023. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

“We are not trying to create a future generation of farmers, necessarily,” Homberg says.

By Alena Kuzub
Northeastern Global News
June 2, 2023

Excerpt:

A Northeastern University graduate passionate about urban farming has launched a non-profit organization that is teaching children about plant biology, nutrition and the environment by growing microgreens at schools.

“If we can get to people at a young age, when they are so open to learning new concepts, it can have a big ripple effect on their lives,” says Oliver Homberg, 28, director of the Boston Youth Farming Project.

Homberg, who graduated from Northeastern in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and a minor in social global enterprise, is a passionate urban farmer. He started cultivating baby versions of leafy greens like basil, kale, cabbage and mustard in his apartment and launched an urban agricultural business, Boston Microgreens, in 2018.

Having grown his company to a value of more than $1 million and recently selling the majority stake in it, Homberg decided to concentrate on passing along his passion for microgreens. He formed the Boston Youth Farming Project, developed an experiential short-term program that compliments Massachusetts curriculum and started approaching public and private schools.

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