Farming Still Providing Benefits for the Developmentally Disabled

A lot has changed at Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) since the facility opened its doors to the first 148 residents in 1891.

One thing that has not changed for developmentally disabled people in general over the past hundred or so years, however, is the value gained from being outside, working in the soil, and growing food. From its early days, the facility at Eldridge (first named the California Home for the Care and Training of the Feeble Minded, then Sonoma State Home, followed by Sonoma State Home before being renamed Sonoma Developmental Center in 1986) operated a fully functioning farm that provided much of the food needed to run the facility. Residents worked the farm, both as a source of labor and in the belief that physical work in the out-of-doors was therapeutic.

Today the Eldridge Farm remains as a remnant of the earlier farm, providing engaging outdoor experiences for residents and the community alike. And elsewhere developmentally disabled people are still benefiting from learning to farm and working in market gardens.

In Ohio an innovative non-profit called Cleveland Crops is providing training and jobs for  developmentally disabled as an affiliate of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The group runs several farms in Cuyahoga County that stock a successful community supported agriculture venture, with good feedback from participants.

Read more:
Cleveland Farms: Training People With Disabilities to Farm, by Hannah Wallace, on Civil Eats (6/4/2014).