The Foodshed Farm Hub in City Heights will provide a physical location where farmers can bring their fresh produce.
It’s also where community members can access it at an affordable price, even through an EBT card, according to the organization’s president and Pauma Valley farmer Hernan Cavazos.
“So we do mixed vegetables; we also do strawberries, eggs,” he said. “We also run an incubation program for farmers, so we’re growing farmers too.”
Cavazos told KPBS that the produce they receive from local San Diego farmers will allow them to fill 300 to 500 food boxes on a weekly basis. That’s enough food to help feed “100 to 300 different families in City Heights,” he said.
Tina Chitura is one of the farmers who will be providing her vegetables like cabbage, carrots and kale to the organization.
She started her journey into farming by working in community gardens with her sisters in City Heights a decade ago. Now she’s tending four acres of land in Ramona.
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For her, it's about giving back to the larger San Diego community and making sure no one has to settle for unhealthy food options.
“If you cannot afford food in the store it doesn't mean you have to starve. It doesn't mean you don't have to be healthy,” Chitura said. “With us, as farmers providing that food, I just tell myself I need to grow more. I grow more and at a lower price, for everybody to afford.”
City Heights Promotora Miriam Rodriguez said the pandemic exposed already existing issues for San Diego’s most vulnerable, but this will help her local community.
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“My family has really been able to have that security to know that within walking distance they can get food that is good quality and no pesticides,” she said.
The Foodshed is located on Fairmount Avenue and is open to all San Diegans.
Cavazos said the Farm Hub also addresses climate change by promoting local, sustainable food production with the majority of their revenue going back to the farmers.
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The Foodshed Farm Hub will be open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with their grand opening set to take place on May 1.
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