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Outside of our rural communities, 4-H programming continues to thrive in our urban centers. In addition to helping youth understand the importance of STEM, healthy living, and career readiness education, 4-H professionals in Ohio’s urban counties are ensuring that youth know about the integral role the agriculture industry plays in our lives. Read more.

Sourced from Ohio 4-H Youth Development

The Ohio State University Extension (Cuyahoga County) seeks an educator to work collaboratively with county, area, and state teams of OSU professionals and with local agency leaders and volunteers. The educator will be responsible for a broad range of basic to complex duties that could include but are not limited to: Providing guidance and/or leadership for Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Development, targeted to local and area needs, focusing on urban audiences. Utilize appropriate methods, both formal and informal, of community assessment to identify educational needs and opportunities of local community. Design, implement and teach educational programming, based on these needs, to groups and individuals comprised of adults and/or youth. May also convene and facilitate community coalitions focused on those needs. The Educator may be required to replicate and adhere to existing programs that meet the needs of their local community. The educator will develop promotional material, work with and/or lead committees and volunteers, and establish and maintain partnerships within the community that support the achievement of the program goals. The educator evaluates educational programs and dissemination methods, as well as, utilizes existing evaluation instruments to evaluate the teaching effectiveness, program quality and results of local programs. Participate in discussions with county representatives concerning program funding and may be responsible for the management of the county budget. May also be responsible for securing external funds to support local programming. Participate as a member of county, multi-county, and/or state Extension teams to further the overall mission, vision and values of both Ohio State University Extension and Agriculture and Natural Resources and Community Development.

The educator will focus on urban agriculture operations, implementing trainings, advancing resource utilization, and providing general support to local growers and agribusiness owners. This educator’s work will be a collaborative effort with the Farm Service Agency's Cleveland Urban County Committee and USDA's Urban Service Center, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other community-based organizations. The educator will focus on improving the sustainability and long-term viability of urban agriculture operations, will facilitate outreach and engagement, online resource access, research and technical assistance, and urban stakeholder data and mapping.

This educator position is located in Cleveland and reports to Ohio State's statewide Urban Agriculture Specialist, with additional support and guidance from Cuyahoga County's Extension leader. This educator will pilot new programs, leverage existing resources, and support statewide urban ag team communications, events, networks, and other emerging developments. To boost and foster the connection to Ohio's urban agriculture community, this educator will help transfer knowledge gained in Cleveland to benefit Ohio's other metropolitan areas that reflects local contexts and priorities.

Learn more. Job # R111248

The 2026 Urban Food Systems Symposium will be held September 14-17, 2026 in Kansas City, MO.

Recap from 2024 including a video

As consumers, do we care if specialty crops are grown in a controlled environment? Do we care if the process is sustainable? Do we care if crops are locally grown?

Last year we published The 2023 Controlled Environment Agriculture Market – How are we evolving? (We recommend reviewing this article, as it provides background for the 2024 review.) This year we are revisiting some discussion points, plus attempting to tackle the changes we saw in just one short year. And boy did we see changes.

This article continues to focus on the U.S. controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry. But we also look at it from a North American perspective, as we feel like the biggest year-over-year changes come from the fact that the U.S. CEA industry does not operate in a bubble. It is highly influenced by North American growers, as well as vendors, consultants, labor (both blue and white collar), and other centers of influences from around the world, but namely Europe. Read more.

Sourced from Urban Ag News