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It’s 7am on a rainy Thursday morning when Brooke and I meet up with Dayne, Heather and some dedicated volunteers at Community Services Unlimited‘s Mini Farm at the Expo Center in South Los Angeles.  We’re just in time to help finish up with harvesting carrots, kale, collard greens, strawberries and a variety of herbs that will be distributed, same-day, to local residents through CSU’s Farm Fresh Produce Bag Subscription Program.

For as little as $40 a month, neighborhood residents can receive a grocery bag of fresh, local and organically grown fruits and vegetables once a week.  To supplement and add variety to the produce grown at Expo Mini Farm, CSU partners with small local family farmers growing in both rural and urban communities.  Each week CSU distributes 70-80 Farm Fresh Produce Bags at designated pick-up sites or directly to residents by bicycle delivery.

We are visiting partners in Southern California this week; in addition to CSU, we spent time with Social Justice Learning Institute in Inglewood and Food Forward in North Hollywood. We’ll share more pictures and stories in the coming weeks – stay tuned!