A Note From Farmer Sam: When We Focus on Community We Thrive

I think we can all agree that this year has been a little…crazy. Our agriculture and food communities have been hit the hardest for sure, between shifting after the SIP orders, to the most recent wild fires our year has been shifted upside down. Harvest plans, planting schedules and projections flew out the window pretty early this year and despite it all we’ve been able to build more structure and connect with more people all through food and farming.

Every year we rely so heavily on our community to continue to grow food right here in Santa Clara County, and this year we’re so proud of all the connections we’ve made and the people that we’ve fed. Veggielution, an urban farm right in East San Jose, has always been one of our biggest supporters and best collaborators over the last five years, and together we’ve made huge strides this year on feeding our community. Veggielution is a true trail blazer for for being one of the first urban farms in Santa Clara County and showing so many people(including myself), the power of our common connection through food.

Starting in April with help from Fresh Approach, Veggielution and a cohort of other Bay Are Farmers and non-profits we applied for the Farmers to Familes Grant to provide free boxes to low income communities in our own neighborhoods. The grant allowed us to feed hundreds of families right in East San Jose, families that we’re most affected by the pandemic and economic downturn. Veggielution and Spade & Plow collaborated to grow, harvest, pack and distribute boxes every week. With this program it is more apparent than ever that our communities need farms. We couldn’t do this alone and we depend on a robust agriculture infrastructure, a diverse community and support and investment from all of our stake holders including you.

Although the funding for this grant ran out in September, as the USDA shifted to partner with large scale global distributors, we are still packing boxes for these communities. Every Sunday in the lull between the busy week days we load up our packing line to pack 200 boxes that get distributed every Monday by Veggieltuion staff and volunteers. Veggielution was able to reach out to their community to find funding to pack these boxes through The Bank of America Charitable Foundation and the City of San Jose Collective Impact Grant. We couldn’t be more grateful to be able to continue to feed our local community, especially those that need our help most. When we remind ourselves why we farm and continue to support our communities we all benefit and thrive.

Do you know of other local communities in need? We are always looking for partnerships for outreach or food donations to feed more people in Santa Clara County. Please reach out if you are looking to connect or support in any way.

Spade & Plow