February 7, 2021
Soil Born farms is located within 55 acres of a community farm in Rancho Cordova, CA. Soil Born believes that all communities should have access to high-quality locally produced food. To facilitate this access, Born Soils trains people to grow their own food even within the city. In 2018, 1,795 adults attended classes in Born Soils. An important vision for Born Soil is to train young people on the value of nutrition and how to grow food in the city. They offer summer camp experiences for pre-K through high school. They offer scholarships for those that cannot afford them.
Image by National Civic League
In 2018, there were 59 beginning farmers trained; 1,795 adults attended gardening, cooking, and herbal care classes; 2,557 students engaged in school gardens at 10 campuses; 4,200 students enjoyed hands-on experiences at American River Ranch; 386,060 pounds of fruit donated to families in need, and 130,000 plants of 118 varieties were seeded in their greenhouse.
During the summer camps, the youth reconnected with themselves, the land, and the community.
Also, because of volunteers, there is less wastage of fruit since they collect these from farmers and donate them to local food banks and other emergency food resources.
Many people are interested in locally grown and healthy foods as evidenced by the people seeking information and training. Healthy foods can be grown in the city so long as people are trained on how to do it. Inequalities were reduced by donating fruits to those that could otherwise not afford them and by providing scholarships to students who were interested, but could not afford the summer camp experiences.
Story shared by Margaret Sergon, USA, based on a story originally collected by the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies of Ball State University, Indiana, USA.
More info here or contact at msergon@my.nl.edu
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