Maya's Farm welcomes volunteers to their property to teach about garden maintenance and the importance of locally grown food.
Maya Dailey started the nearly 7-acre farm in 2005 as a way to "show the many hats" farm workers wear, whether it be a marketing expert, plumber or harvester.
She first welcomed volunteers eight years ago with the Arizona Sustainability Alliance and has recently begun partnering with ASU Farm.
Since then, Maya's Farm has taught its many visitors about what goes into local farming.
Dailey said volunteers are an important part of growing a community that supports and understands the efforts that go into growing food.
"The most important reason is the educational aspect that brings awareness to students about how farming really is," Dailey said. "Getting your hands in the dirt, understanding the labor intensiveness of the process and being able to understand the importance and the need for supporting small local farms is probably one of the benefits of having volunteers at the farm."
Beyond getting a better understanding of farming, Dailey said volunteers are welcomed by a community of people passionate about helping farms in any way they can.
"We're also building community. We're building relationships with one another, and that's very important in the times we live in," Dailey said. "It supports the farm in a nice, small way."
Dana Martin, an ASU Farm student worker and graduate student in landscape architecture, has been volunteering with Maya's Farm since November 2024. She said volunteering helps reconnect people back to nature when living in a city.
"We as a society are disconnected from nature and the land, and this gives a really unique opportunity to do something about that and spend time outside," Martin said. "This is a little sliver of what feels like something so far away from the city."
Dailey said she has a garden and classroom at Garfield Elementary School to engage students from a young age in farming. She said she is inspired by author and activist Alice Waters who began the Edible Schoolyard Project in 1995.
"Starting with the little ones is a way that we can help shape the next generation of student learners, from grades K through eighth and then on to high school level," Dailey said. "Hopefully we can place them in positions that have some value to the environment, our communities and our food system."
With Earth Day on April 22, Anne Costa, director at HonorHealth Desert Mission and part of the HonorHealth Sustainability Committee, said she came out to volunteer to give back to the Earth and to support the local food system. Costa said Maya's Farm has taught her the importance of supporting local farms and broadened her understanding of what goes into the food she eats.
"It's been such an awesome experience," Costa said. "Just appreciation for the food system, specifically, and remembering all that goes into what we need to eat — it being such a vital basic need for humans."
Dailey said she hopes volunteers leave with an understanding of where their food comes from and to embrace small farms.
Sun Devils can sign up for the next volunteer day on April 19.
"It's important for volunteers to respect the people that grow their food and understand that those people need to be honored, respected and paid a living wage," Dailey said. "Embrace these kinds of small farm venues in order to heal the environment in a way that builds a healthier future for all of us."
Edited by Senna James, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at alillest@asu.edu and follow @allylillestol on X.
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Allison is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester at The State Press. She has also worked at Arizona PBS and Blaze Radio.
