Hello everyone! 

It’s hard to believe that I am writing this blog while sitting next to my dog in my childhood home after making my way up California from San Diego for the last leg of the FIELD tour. If you’re new here, I’ve been traveling across the country to visit our FIELD fellows, who are working alongside various food system organizations. These fellows are getting hands-on experience, actively contributing to daily operations, and working towards building more equitable and sustainable food systems. Along the way, I’ve been connecting with Farmlink’s broader community, including alumni, food program partners, and donors.

This tour wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of Planet Home Lending! Through their Planet With a Purpose platform, Planet Home Lending is committed to making a meaningful environmental and social impact. They’re excited to partner with us in empowering the next generation of food system leaders.

I started my CA leg in the sunny city of San Diego. Kailey, just graduated from UCSD and has been working with GrowEco and Black Mountain Farm this summer. Black Mountain raises pasture poultry, eggs, and seasonal veggies. They focus on regenerating the soil through the relationship between the animals and plants on site. Unfortunately, they’ve been battling with the squirrels this summer, which has forced some serious creativity to maintain production for their farm stand and local food bank. GrowEco, Kailey’s other partner, grows a variety of produce while rebuilding depleted soil and regenerating the soil ecosystem. They invite their customers to participate in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) veggie box program to purchase their sustainability grown food. 

Next, I drove North to San Luis Obispo. I arrived late to my campsite and woke up to find that I spent the night on a ranch, surrounded by pigs, goats, and other animals! It was a great way to start the day before heading to CityFarm SLO with Katie! SLO is such a unique place in how aware and central agriculture is to people’s everyday lives, careers, and education. At CityFarm, they recognize the interconnectedness of these systems and how food plays a critical role in bringing people together. They’re main mission is to empower the next generation through sustainable farming and farm based education. In addition to their educational programs, they deliver produce through an online farmer’s market, supply local food pantries, and sublease parcels of land to independent organic farmers. Katie and I spent the day fulfilling orders for farmer’s market customers, sorting produce for the food bank, and tending to the tomato plants. CityFarm so clearly thrives at the center of human connection, food, and growth. It was a joy to see how they build programs around these pillars and how Katie’s been able to bring her knowledge of crop science to their work. 

I drove back down to Los Angeles to host an alumni event on Will Rogers Beach! It felt full circle for this to be the last alumni event of the tour since our first deliveries and initial food partners were in LA. We shared life updates, enjoyed snacks, and jumped in the ocean! Before driving to San Francisco, I snuck in a surf sesh at Malibu, and got lunch with the leaders of our food program on their return from a food service conference. 

After spending a night at home, I drove up to meet Divya at FarmingHope in San Francisco. FarmingHope is a culinary job training and food justice nonprofit. They have a variety of programs to support and serve the Tenderloin neighborhood including their “dinners with dignity.” Twice a week food insecure families can sign up to attend a sit down 3 course meal where they experience a white tablecloth, restaurant style dinner service. Divya has transformed the way that FarmingHope streamline their services, diversify the resources they provide, and increase the efficiency of their operations which ultimately affects how well they can serve their community. I joined Divya on a dinner service day and had the wonderful opportunity to serve and wait tables for families. 

I conclude this tour with a full heart, immense awe for the work our fellows are doing, and gratitude for being able to see them all in action. As I say goodbye to my campervan, I want to again thank Planet Home Lending for making this tour possible. 

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Thanks for staying tuned into the FIELD tour. Your support and care makes all the difference.

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Missing the open road, 

Stella