Theme: community partners

News From the Farm | November 14, 2016

November 14, 2016

Guest contribution from our friends at the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN)

Healthy soils not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, but also provide tangible benefits to farmers’ bottom lines, their communities’ health, and the wildlife around them. So wouldn’t it be great if farmers could get paid to improve soil health? Thanks to new groundbreaking legislation, they can.

California is launching a first-of-its-kind program to pay farmers to adopt agricultural practices that enhance soil health and mitigate climate change. The state legislature established the Healthy Soils Program in late August and provided $7.5 million in start-up funding. The program will provide grants to growers for on-farm demonstration projects and soil management practices that provide clear climate benefits such as applying compost, mulching, and planting hedgerows.

img_0945Food “waste,” or food production? [Read more…]

News From the Farm | November 7, 2016

November 7, 2016

As the season of autumn abundance is upon us, I am checking in from the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic (CMC), where I have the privilege of working as a volunteer, providing free holistic and integrative healthcare to underserved women who are living with cancer. For the past 25 years, CMC has offered a wide range of holistic services to women who could not otherwise afford them: therapeutic massage and other kinds of bodywork, acupuncture, Chinese and western herbal medicine, exercise classes, as well as referrals to medical and social services. For many of those 25 years, the Full Belly Farm community has delivered produce boxes to CMC though the Farm Box Donation Program.

Women whose lives are often complicated, hectic, and difficult enter a serene healing space that is entirely dedicated to their own health and healing when they arrive at the Clinic. They are greeted by caring, compassionate staff and hot herbal tea.  And the first thing they see when they walk in, is a beautiful display of Full Belly fruits and vegetables, free for the taking. They are always taken – by the end of each shift, the fruits and veggies are gone. [Read more…]

News From the Farm | July 18, 2016

July 18, 2016

Several months ago we reported on a bird diversity survey being done here at Full Belly Farm by researchers from Washington State University. They are interested in understanding bird species diversity on farms and how the layout of farms and landscapes affects birds. They just completed their second survey and one of the researchers shared her thoughts: 

“Full Belly had the highest diversity index of the California farms for both surveys. (I haven’t calculated it for Washington and Oregon farms yet and will do this once we survey them again.) Full Belly also had very high species evenness without any particular species really dominating. Interestingly, the Capay Valley farms all had high evenness. I’m planning to explore further how the surrounding landscape is affecting the species we find on the farms and what the potential implications of this are. [Read more…]

News From the Farm | June 6, 2016

June 6, 2016

Guest Contribution  –  Soil as a Carbon Sink

Due to climate change, scientists predict that California will experience weather extremes that will put a huge strain on our communities and on agriculture. Farmers and ranchers are among the first to experience the effects, including erratic weather, pest pressure, drought, yield decreases, and heat waves that impact worker safety and comfort.

California’s farms and ranches produce two potent greenhouse gases: methane (mainly from livestock) and nitrous oxide (from fertilizers)—as well as the ubiquitous carbon dioxide from fossil fuel-powered equipment and pumps. Farmers can reduce emissions in a number of ways: replace synthetic nitrogen fertilizers with organic materials such as compost or manure; improve water use efficiency so less energy is required to pump water; produce on-farm renewable energy; and more. [Read more…]

News From the Farm | October 26, 2015

October 26, 2015

Since 1992, Full Belly members and Clinic volunteers have supported delivery of 5 CSA boxes per week to clients of the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic in Oakland.  You can be a part of this program by letting us know that you want to donate one or more of your CSA boxes (for example when you are going out of town) or by making a direct contribution.  We currently have boxes scheduled through the end of 2015, but there are not sufficient funds to continue beyond that point.  A letter from one of the Charlotte Maxwell volunteers follows.

We want to express heartfelt gratitude from the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic to Full Belly CSA members.

The Charlotte Maxwell Clinic (CMC) provides free integrative care to low-income women with cancer. As a CMC volunteer and long-time Full Belly Farm CSA member, I am delighted to know that the women who come to CMC in Oakland can get the same life-sustaining produce that I am fortunate enough to receive every week in my own box from FBF.  [Read more…]

News From the Farm | April 27, 2015

April 27, 2015

Last Thursday I went to a farmers market where there were no cash boxes and no scales.  It was at John Still Elementary School in the Sacramento City Unified School District, one of 42 districts in California participating in a program called California Thursdays.

There were about six other stands featuring locally grown produce, fruit, rice, and even someone making smoothies. At around 8:00am waves of excited kids, arriving one grade at a time, started gathering around, all with their California Thursdays cloth bags ready to be filled. Many of the kids had family members with them and everyone had just been served a California-grown breakfast.

The program was sponsored by the Center for Ecoliteracy, one of several efforts (another notable example is the California Farm to School Network’s Harvest of the Month) bringing fresh and local food to the state’s school kids. [Read more…]

Harvest of the Month

February 2, 2015

February 2, 2015

We recently enjoyed a visit from Bill Jensen who works at Northside Elementary School in Cool California (a bit east of Auburn). He came to pick up vegetables for the Harvest of the Month program, a statewide effort to increase access to fruits and vegetables in schools throughout California.  Bill explained that the school’s garden doesn’t come into production until March and he needed some broccoli to serve.  The students will develop presentations for the classroom and prepare a recipe to take home.

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In Bill’s photo, kindergarten students are harvesting their first crop of carrots.

News from the Farm | November 17, 2014

November 17, 2014

Good Food Community Fund

With the help of our members, our CSA program has been donating CSA boxes to two wonderful organizations, the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic and Montalvin Manor Elementary School for many years.  The way it works is that you can include a box donation when you pay for your boxes, or you can donate your boxes when you go out of town (with 5 days notice).  You can also designate funds to go directly to the Good Food Community Fund if you wish.  For the first time in many years, our fund is significantly in arrears, so we hope that some of you might consider contributing.

The Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic in Oakland is a licensed primary care facility that serves low-income women with cancer. The Clinic provides free therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy, massage and Chinese and western herbs. An in-home comfort care program is available for clients with end-stage cancer who are too weak to come to the Clinic. The post-treatment program treats and supports women who have completed their allopathic treatments. For more information about the Clinic, visit their web site at www.charlottemaxwell.org. [Read more…]

News from the Farm | August 25, 2014

August 25, 2014

Really Fun Fundraiser for a GREAT Organization!

When I show visitors around Full Belly Farm, they sometimes ask me about the sign that we have at the top of the road, with the logo, “Grown in the Beautiful Capay Valley.”  In answer to their question, I always tell them the following cautionary tale: “There was once a very beautiful place known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight. This Valley included the largest fruit production and packing region in the world, with 39 canneries and beautiful stone fruit trees flowering every spring. As California became more and more urbanized, the name of that Valley was changed. Do you know what the new name is…? Silicon Valley. 

We hope that our local efforts, represented by the sign at the top of the road, to promote the Capay Valley, will protect agriculture here, so that we don’t suffer the same fate as the Valley of Heart’s Delight.” [Read more…]

News from the Farm | August 4, 2014

August 4, 2014

Letter of Appreciation from the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic 

Below is a letter from the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic, who we have been working with for several years, providing produce to low-income women who are undergoing cancer treatment. This program is completely run by volunteers. At some of our CSA sites, if a box is not picked up or if you call in in advance to cancel your box, that box is then picked up and taken to the clinic. We love offering this service to the Charlotte Maxwell Clinic, and they love receiving the produce. Thanks so much to those of you who choose to donate your boxes! 

— Jenna Muller

[Read more…]

News from the Farm | March 24, 2014

March 24, 2014

All of us at Full Belly Farm give thanks every day to our CSA members because we believe that our CSA program is not only a way for you to get great fruits and vegetables every week, but also a way for you to be more connected with us, your family farm. This week, if any of you want to deepen that connection beyond Full Belly and into the world of organizations working for change in food and agriculture across the state, we want to say just a few words about one of our favorite organizations, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF).

CAFF works directly with members, particularly family farmers, to increase the use and consumption of fresh, healthy, local food, and to help farms prosper. CAFF builds relationships between sellers and buyers, and also provides technical support to farmers, like production planning, connections with local markets, product line development, and food safety plans. It really seems to us that family farms are a cornerstone of healthy communities in many of the regions where CAFF works.  [Read more…]

News from the Farm | February 11, 2013

February 11, 2013

Our CSA project has always been fueled by many impulses and one of the most inspiring is the generous spirit of our members.  Full Belly started making boxes years ago, in 1992. Earnest Partner discussions were only one element in the initial decisions.  We also had a good friend, Beth, in Berkeley who organized the first delivery sites for us, managed member accounts, and still operates to this day, our most successful site in Albany.

One (one of many) of Beth’s most lasting gifts to our CSA community, was a connection to the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic (CMCC), a relationship which has continued to this day.  The clinic is a “state licensed health clinic providing free complementary alternative medical treatments to low-income women with cancer” (from their web site).  Their services include acupuncture, Chinese  herbs, Western herbs, homeopathy, massage and  therapeutic imagery.

[Read more…]

News From the Farm | November 29, 2012

December 4, 2012

Zero Hunger Challenge

Our refrigerator offers leftovers, several days after our Thanksgiving feast. We’re still enjoying roasted vegetables, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. But this isn’t altogether unfamiliar – our Thanksgiving feast is only different in terms of scale – the farm always provides such abundant quantities of food that it’s hard to imagine going hungry for very long.

Generalizing beyond the farm, our country is blessed with some of the best farmland in the world, and immense agricultural capacity. Thus it is startling that we have one of the highest poverty rates in the industrialized world, and one of the highest child mortality rates. We live in a wealthy, bountiful country where 1 in every 3 children are reliant on SNAP (food stamps) to purchase food.

[Read more…]

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