Volunteering With Farm2People Delivered Career Clarity

At Farm2People, we’ve come together at a critical time to address food supply chain issues between local growers and buyers, while helping underserved, food insecure communities. One of our integral volunteer team members is Reza Bloomer who heads our business development and strategic partnerships.

When COVID-19 hit, Reza was transitioning in his career and doing some soul searching, as he recently told The Wall Street Journal. Growing up in Tokyo and learning Japanese, a word that sticks with Reza is “ikigai,” which translates to the reason for existence or being. 

Source: Reza Bloomer

Examining his career path, Reza switched gears from working in the tech industry and started venturing into first volunteering in his hometown San Diego region working in hunger relief and at a school district’s community garden. It was from this work Reza became inspired to fix the systemic problems within our industrial food system, which led him to Farm2People. Our broader mission is to build a digital marketplace that meets the needs of local producers, communities, and food buyers.

“The sector is in need of fresh perspectives, deliberate retooling and novel solutions,” Reza writes.

Reza recently began work as head of business development at Inner Plant, an early stage agricultural technology venture that makes living plant sensors that detect disease within hours, empowering farmers to quickly take corrective actions to protect crops. 

Reza, we are so proud of you for finding your ikigai!