Funded mainly by private donations and grants, Growing the Table has paid out more than $2 million to more than 400 small farmers for harvests that would otherwise go to waste. So far, the project has given away more than 66,000 boxes, or 860,000 pounds, of fresh produce through a network of nonprofits so more people could get food outside of traditional food banks.

Your partnership with Growing the Table enabled more than 850,000 lbs of produce and 46,600 freshly prepared meals to nourish food-insecure families in more than 18 regions across the state.

Growing the Table could serve as a model for how to build a food system that serves the farmworkers who grow and cultivate the nation’s produce.

Santa Cruz has one of the highest per capita rates of unhoused individuals in California. Growing the Table’s partners provides our organic produce to recently housed individuals.

The Monterey Bay Region is one of the world's largest salad bowls, feeding millions around the world. Yet tens of millions of pounds of fresh produce rotted in fields during the pandemic, while a record amount of Americans faced prolonged hunger.

A group of Fresno organization delivers tens of thousands of locally grown, culturally relevant produce to under-resourced communities.

Advocates with Growing the Table, a pilot program that has delivered 138,000 pounds of fresh produce to food-insecure families throughout the Central Coast since May, hope they can raise funds to continue serving whole foods grown by Latinx and Indigenous organic farmers to under-resourced populations long-term.

“This needs to be an example and a model of what we need to do to eliminate all food deserts in the State of California,” said Assembly member Robert Rivas (D-Salinas).

“We’re in the wealthiest state in the nation and the wealthiest country on the planet and the reality is too many of our kids are hungry,” California Assembly member Kevin McCarty said.

It was a scene like many that have taken place over the past 15 months, as emergency feeding programs emerged to fill a poverty gap that was widened by the pandemic.

Low-income families are now enjoying Marin’s finest produce, both through the bounty boxes and the farmers’ markets.

A diverse group of L.A. organizations to deliver more than 65,000 pounds of culturally relevant produce.

Supporting creative partnerships and small farms owned by women and people of color — like the ones Nadia and Abraham work with — is just one way Growing the Table is helping to build a more inclusive and resilient food system across California. Abraham provided both an outlet for his farm community’s produce and food for farmworkers’ families. Now we can help him and other farmers feed the children of farmworkers in Monterey County.

After the USDA changed the program last August and no longer prioritized local and regional food, instead turning to large-scale industrial agriculture to get out as many boxes as possible, AIM was forced to adjust. Naja-Riese called the move “very disappointing,” but was able to find more funding to keep the program going, and then in January announced a new collaboration with Growing the Table, Performing Stars and ExtraFood for a 10-week pilot program delivering boxes and feeding thousands of under-resourced families.

Nonprofits are eliminating food waste while tackling the hunger crisis brought on by destruction from wildfires and pandemic-driven unemployment.

A new effort is underway in Marin to keep fresh food flowing to 250 families in need while giving a boost to BIPOC- and women-owned farms struggling to survive the pandemic.

As the pandemic continues to strain Bay Area food banks, Growing the Table has partnered with the Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM), Performing Stars of Marin, and ExtraFood to launch a 10-week pilot program to feed thousands of under-resourced families and help financially support local farms owned by people of color and women.