Happy 🌎🌍🌏 Day 2024 … and we’re dropping our 2023 Annual Report 🌿
Happy 🌎🌍🌏 Day!
Yes, you may notice it was this time last year when we last made a journal entry. Did you miss us?! During our journaling break, I can assure you, the beat played on. We got up to some very real and very meaningful capacity building. We did quite a lot of soul searching and experimenting. And now, one quarter into 2024, we find ourselves more rooted than ever.
Rooted…like a tree. Check out this tree, filled with fragrant blossoms, at Limelight Groves.
We’re coalition building on the ground in LA. We’re diving into listening sessions about climate smart growing practices. We’re meeting independent and small farmers closer to home and learning first hand about their successes and hurdles. We’re engaging in discussions about how to even define “regenerative”. We’re sourcing more culturally appropriate food for food seekers. And we’re developing an earned income revenue model so we won’t have to rely wholly on philanthropy. We are growing up!
If you fancy, a link to our 2023 annual report is below. The headline is: In 2023, we planted the seeds for a fruitful 2024. And in 2024, we are paying close attention to the wisdom of seed keepers and land stewards and lovers of this beautiful earth.
“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting.
As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, the inspired multi-hyphenate author Robin Wall Kimmerer reflects on the teachings of her Potawatomi heritage and shares the lessons of the #honorableharvest. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, do yourself a favor and get into it! No time like the present. And – bonus – if you download the audiobook, the writing is in Kimmerer’s own voice.)
Kimmerer’s words are a constant echo and a source of inspo for Farm2People.
How can we feed more people and do less harm.
How can we move with consciousness, gratitude and a spirit of reciprocity when cultivating, selecting and prioritizing our very real (post-modern, post-industrial) needs.
How can we heal ourselves while repairing the soils and waterways that make our living on this earth possible.
Lush chards at Gaytan Family Farms in Riverside.
I’m sorry-not-sorry to be so earnest in this message! But this Earth Day I’m focusing on what’s possible when we choose co-creation over destruction. And I’m reflecting on how a spirit of giving has informed the shape of Farm2People.
The future looks bright. We can make it bright. Our values are guiding our work. And we’re super grateful to have the opportunity to engage with growers and our SoCal friends and neighbors in this way.
Thank you for being a part of our journey! Now let’s all have a romp in a food forest and hug some trees! (Kidding-not-kidding)
More soon!
The cutest squash and blossom at JR Organics giving us all the feels.