West Sacramento Urban Farms reconnect people to the process of growing food
We’re hoping to expand the mobile market and create more market opportunities for us to purchase products from our urban farmers
By Gerardo Zavala
Daily Democrat
February 3, 2022
Excerpt:
There are five urban farms in West Sacramento with one located on school district property, one on city property, another in a low-income housing development project, two on separate privately-owned developers’ properties.
Bernal emphasized the need for constant fundraising and grant writing to keep the program going, which is where many of the program’s stakeholders have stepped in to lend a hand.
“Funding comes from a wide variety of sources,” she said.
The program’s seed funding came from Wells Fargo, which gave $50,000 in the first year and has continued to provide an average of $25,000 a year since, according to Bernal. Nugget Market also partners with the program and provides its Lake Washington Farm $10,000 a year to keep it running.
“We launched a mobile farmers market, which is a grant that was received through the California Department of Food and Agriculture to purchase this truck and it’s directly driving to affordable housing complexes in West Sacramento,” Bernal emphasized.
West Sacramento doesn’t have a farmers market anymore so Bernal believes the mobile market is important because it brings healthy and fresh produce to people’s residences.
