Cover story

FRESH DELIVERY During the pandemic, Farm Discovery created a food distribution program, sending produce from Live Earth Farm to various organizations to help feed the community.

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BY JOHANNA MILLER

Pajaro Valley nonprofit embraces the giving season

P P ajaro Valley nonprofit Farm Discovery at Live Earth is inviting the community to celebrate another successful year of farm-based education for local youth.

The organization aims to empower young people and their families to build and sustain healthy food, farming, social and natural systems. Children and teens learn farming skills, develop environmental literacy and build healthy relationships with their food.

During the pandemic, most of Farm Discovery’s programs, projects and field trips were canceled or postponed. But that didn’t stop them from looking for ways to help the community.

“A lot of changes happened during Covid,” said Executive Director Jessica Ridgeway. “We had a really booked field trip season for that Spring, but all that shut down. We realized … much

of the community still had to work, and needed someone to care for kids during distance learning.”

The group hosted more than 400 families for farm walks and created the Covid-safe “Summer Farm Care” program that extended into 2021 when students went back to school. Farm Care offered small groups of children ages 5-12 from working families the opportunity to spend a day at Live Earth in Watsonville.

“It’s about serving kids who need the most support,” Ridgeway said. “Whether that be social, emotional or academic. [The program] had them on the farm, around kids in a safe environment, with adult supervision … and they could experience all the things we usually do.”

In addition to the summer program, in May 2020 Farm Discovery created a new produce distribution program, partnering with other nonprofits to help feed the county’s most vulnerable populations. Produce that would normally go to waste at Live Earth (after supplying farmers markets and CSA orders) is packed up and sent to four different agencies: Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, Holy Cross Food Pantry, Encompass Community Services’ Transition Age Youth Program, and Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley’s Veggie Rx program for diabetes patients.

Farm Discovery hopes to expand in 2022 to grow more crops in its education fields which can be donated through the produce program.

“We’re actively pulling community members in and asking them what kinds of produce they’d like to have more of,” Ridgeway said. “We’re also hoping our field trips will return soon … this Fall we were unable to bring many students in due to the bus driver shortage.”

Farm Discovery is one of 80 nonprofits signed up to participate in Santa Cruz Gives (SCG), a countywide holiday fundraising campaign aiming to create a local network of donors and increase giving through crowdsourcing.

“Santa Cruz Gives is a great campaign,” Ridgeway said. “We’ve watched it grow up. It gets better every year.”

The organization is also holding fundraising events. On Dec. 5, it hosted an event at the Midtown Parklet in Santa Cruz, complete with crafts for kids, live music, and shopping at nearby stores.

On Dec. 16 between 6-8pm, Farm Discovery will hold its annual Holiday Party at Fruition Brewing, 918 East Lake Ave. The community is invited to celebrate with staff and board members, enjoy drinks and snacks from Hindsight Cafe. Both Hindsight and Fruition will be donating a portion of proceeds to the SCG campaign.

Ridgeway said that being able to connect with other local nonprofits is part of the appeal of SCG.

“We like to lift up others who we think are doing important things,” she said. “For us, it’s just as much about supporting other organizations as it is raising money for our own.”

PRODUCE POWER Farm Discovery’s holiday fundraising will go to support its ongoing produce program.

Courtesy of Farm Discovery at Live Earth

LEARNING TO GROW Farm Discovery at Live Earth aims to empower youth and families to build and sustain healthy food, farming, social and natural systems.

Courtesy of Farm Discovery at Live Earth

For information, visit farmdiscovery.org and santacruzgives.org.