When people think of the term "sustainable agriculture," they may think about farming organically or conserving water. When we at Farm Fresh To You think about sustainability, of course we think about how we farm, but we also believe that sustainability has to do with how we contribute to our local community and economy.
The holidays offer a time to reflect on community work and giving back. We have a strong outreach program through our CSA and farm that is integral to the sustainability work we do, and we want you to know that by subscribing to our CSA, you as our customers support our efforts in our delivery areas.
What we have to give is produce, and we give a lot of it. Last year, we donated over 100,000 pounds of produce to food banks. At the holiday time, we continue to donate bulk produce, but we also give Farm Fresh To You boxes to food banks in Northern and Southern California.
This past year, we also started working with a program called Kids Farmers Market, which gives locally grown produce directly to students at elementary schools with a high percentages of free and reduced lunch participants. It has been one of the most rewarding programs for us as a farm. Putting some Satsuma mandarins into the hands of children is about as simple as it gets. The kids get about 10lbs of produce from us and other farms to take home to their families.
Our outreach team also supports organizations focused on healthy eating, sustainable agriculture and education. This year, we have supported everything from an American Diabetes Association run to a local chicken coop tour that benefited a farm-to-school organization. We enjoy working with organizations making a difference in these areas and again, we thank you, our members, for help making our community work possible.
