This project will serve students in the emerging Critical Agriculture Studies major and the wider university community. The project will fund some initial infrastructure, including two polycarbonate greenhouses, a rainwater catchment system and a vegetable washing station. A part of this project is the ‘Cotton & Collards: A Black Plant Relationships Initiative’ which focuses on two plants central to the history of Black people in the United States.

The Latinx Community Food Initiative aims to broaden student access to fresh, culturally relevant foods while empowering them to learn where to obtain and even grow their own ingredients, fostering a deeper connection to ancestral food practices and environmental sustainability. A bi-monthly food security campaign will be hosted, designed to connect students with essential resources that promote food autonomy and access to fresh, culturally significant ingredients.

The Native American Studies Department’s Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab and Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute, Cultural Fire Club, and the NAS Department are leading Returning Good Fire — an Indigenous-led rematriation project restoring cultural burns on California’s North Coast. Guided by cultural fire practitioners and Indigenous students, the project supports habitat restoration, revives culturally significant plants, conserves water, and trains future Indigenous firekeepers.

The Library of Things (LoTs) at Cal Poly Humboldt will provide students with access to tools, equipment, and everyday items that are often too expensive or impractical to own individually. By promoting shared use, reuse, and repair, LoTs reduce waste and support a more sustainable, circular economy. In order to figure out how to best implement this project, the SHIFT Committee has funded a student research position for AY 25-26 that will help figure out how best to navigate the logistical concerns that have and will rise with this project.  

SHIFT has been funding the Black to the Land Project, orginally conceived as the Black Educational Farm program, in collaboration with the Umoja Center for Pan African Student Excellence at the Bayside Park Farm since 2022.

The Black Educational Farm program has 3 goals:

 1. To teach and develop farming skills with Black students 

2. To develop a sense of belonging in the local community 

3. Facilitate discussions and learning that center Black experiences, knowledge and challenges pertaining to sustainability and land. 

The Environmental Studies Club proposed a two-day Northern California Intercollegiate Climate Community Conference, which aims to bring together students, faculty, and staff from universities and colleges that often feel isolated. The conference seeks to address the urgent need for collaborative efforts to tackle climate change, and to provide a platform for sharing knowledge, experiences, and best practices among the participants. Each invited school will be requested to bring a presentation on their campus climate initiatives, accompanied by a faculty member and art.

This idea requested funding for the second Indigenous Foods Festival (IFF) at Cal Poly Humboldt, which previously had 350 attendees. The Indigenous Foods Festival is focused on uplifting Indigenous Food Sovereignty across many regions. This inspiring event centered around the important work that folks across communities are doing to elevate Indigenous knowledges and foodways.