The Lessons of 2020
2020 was, as they say, bananas. At Farm2People, 2020 was (more accurately) dry farmed barley, mixed grain, rice, beans, celery, bell peppers, heirloom tomatoes, stonefruit, acorn squash, butternut squash, red kuri squash, russet potatoes, onions and yams.
Between the months of June and December, those are the specific foods Farm2People purchased from local, regenerative-practicing small and mid-sized California farms. We then donated that plant-based nutrition to people seeking food due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. We did all this work thanks to the diligent effort of our team of volunteers, thanks to our partners and thanks to donors like you!
The Lessons
To say that 2020 provided the the world with incredible challenges would be an understatement. In the US, as the shutdowns rippled through our towns and cities, more and more people fell below the poverty line. More working and non-working, healthy and health-compromised individuals alike struggled to put food on the table, to keep a roof over their head. Government action was not swift enough, and science couldn’t yet predict for how long the disruption would last. (It still can’t.) What we all seemed to collectively witness in 2020 was total systems failure on many fronts. Systems that were not built to center humanity over profits failed to serve the people.
Remember those images of milk being spilled into the ground? Or those stories-high piles of potatoes left to rot in the field? We remember them, too. They stunned us. Food was being wasted at a dramatic scale as nearby communities suffered hunger. Farm2People was born as a response to those early moments of systems failure made public.
In May of 2020, Farm2People came together around a shared sense of purpose: to become an additive solution in repairing a broken food system. The work ahead of us was clear. We needed to find a way to provide economic support to vulnerable, responsible growers in our region and also to provide nutrition support to people experiencing hunger. Two positive outcomes from one regional action.
Our journey since has been intense and filled with learning. We’re excited to take a moment to reflect and share our biggest lessons with you!
Farmers need to get paid. Their work is essential work. In order for more farms to put more love into their soil, their trees and their systems they must be fairly compensated. It’s why we’re fighting to pay growers in our network a fair, wholesale market rate every time we source produce. In order to make a real difference we need to provide that real economic benefit to the grower. This might mean we move less pounds into the relief network, but they will be virtuous pounds.
Food access is a human right. Humans have spent centuries drawing borders and colonizing lands and extracting resources from the planet and from one another. It is no wonder that many humans today lack the means (resources or time) to produce their own food. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that none of us goes hungry (or malnourished). That’s why we’re getting that fresh food directly to underserved communities in LA.
Food means whole, nutritious food, not just enriched white bread. Providing heavily processed and shelf stable foods can be necessary in the short term. However, human beings need the nutrients that come from fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes for truly healthy human outcomes. That’s why we’re in this fruit & veggies game.
All hands are needed on deck. No one solution will ever be enough. We need a truly collectivist energy here to sustain real, positive change. It’s been encouraging to see so many sectors working together and so many super groups emerging to really get into the weeds with strategy. Our hope is that the interdisciplinary coalition building continues and helps to shape a more equitable future system.
Please continue to read more of our year end recap below, including our Q4 summary and special shout outs!
Photo by Catalina Muñoz
Quarterly Recap
Since we last spoke, we have supported organic and organic practicing farms with a fair, wholesale market rate for fruits, veggies, grains and legumes for which the farms did not have a buyer.
We made 15 deliveries between October and the present, providing 36,000 lbs or 151,000 servings of whole food to our Los Angeles communities. Our impact was focused and we served the following communities:
South LA via District 10’s Back2School Drive
DTLA via Para Los Niños and Future City Pantry
East LA & El Monte via No Us Without You and SBCC Thrive
Thank you for making our work possible!
2020 Rundown
This is what the seventh month of Farm2People operations looks like.
Economic Support Served: Over a dozen small and mid-sized California farms supported by a fair, wholesale market rate. Further, we’ve prioritized BIPOC, Women and Immigrant owned farm projects who have a commitment to practicing regenerative agriculture.
Nutrition Support Served: 80’000 lbs of fruit, vegetable, grain and legumes donated to food pantries, grocery giveaways and meal programs primarily in LA County.
Complete Actions: 33
Special Shoutout
We are shouting out one very special donor who has radically transformed our capacity this year! That special someone is David Pierce of MIDCENTURY LA (@midcenturyla). Not only does David know how to curate a gorgeous sofa / chair / art work situation, he also knows how to give back with force.
David has been donating a portion of Midcentury’s sales since our first crowdfunding effort in May. Since then, he has helped us meet every one of our campaign goals. We are very grateful and encourage you all to check out his local offerings.
F2P Future
Hunger, unfortunately, is on the rise.
The Covid-19 Pandemic has wide reaching effects and disproportionately harms BIPOC communities and historically disadvantaged communities in urban and rural areas alike. We’ve got to keep contributing fresh, whole nutrition to communities who are already at risk from compounding issues of pre-existing health conditions and higher than average morbidity rates.
At the same time, the continued disruptions to the food service and hospitality industries existentially threaten farmers. Many are being forced to lay their fields to rest. We’ve got to keep our farms growing, particularly the small and mid-sized farms who practice regenerative forms of farming. They are the growers we need to be supporting, because their work has multiple positive effects. Growing food regeneratively not only means food is more nutrient dense, it also means the soil is better tended and can sequester more carbon to combat the effects of climate change. On top of all the good these regenerative growers do, we must also consider that they are often the same growers who by and large have not been able to access government funding due to their small size and efficiency of scale.
Let’s keep moving the needle. Let’s continue supporting people and generating kindness. We hope you will continue to support our work and join this food justice journey with us.
