The Isla Vista Green project, a seven-part gardening workshop series designed to combat food insecurity and to promote sustainability and community, was created by UC Santa Barbara’s Edible Campus Program and Associated Students. It ultimately aims to bring UC Santa Barbara students together through environmental and edible education. 

A.S. and ECP partnered to create a “food security program where they could offer free gardening classes for students.” Courtesy of Isla Vista Green

The Edible Campus Program’s (ECP) Neighborhood Engagement Coordinator and third-year communication and political science double major Elizabeth Lane has worked on the I.V. Green project with her colleagues to provide a space for students to learn about gardening and food stability. 

“It gives people the agency to realize that growing your own food is relatively easy,” Lane said. 

According to Lane, Associated Students (A.S.) and ECP partnered to create a “food security program where they could offer free gardening classes for students.” The two programs merged with funding from A.S. to create the workshop series. 

“Outside of this, we do a bunch of different workshops every week,” Lane said. “We are very interested in continuing the partnership because [A.S.] funding helped a lot.” 

The importance of environmental and gardening education is a core foundation of ECP. 

“We operate community gardens in Isla Vista that grow free produce for the community. I think that’s important because people know where their food is coming from,” Lane said. 

The workshop is also a way for students to connect with each other outside of an academic setting. In addition, the program and workshops are open to any major. 

“I think also just bringing people together,” Lane said in relation to the importance of the program. “You would think that it would be a lot of environmental studies people but it’s really not.” 

The ECP started in 2015 with the Urban Orchard project, which planted citrus trees in Storke Plaza, according to UCSB Sustainability. There are now 14 gardens and farms in I.V. and UCSB. 

“Before I started working for the Edible Campus Program, I didn’t know anything about gardening, and that’s a core mission of ours, to demystify that,” Lane said. 

I.V. Green has four more free workshops that are designed for students to grow their own food at home and learn how to garden. The ECP also hosts many workshops throughout the week. 

A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the Feb. 19, 2026 edition of the Daily Nexus.