Putting down organic roots in Buttonwillow from Bakersfield Express on Vimeo.

Organic, pesticide-free produce harvested from the South Central Farmers’ Shafter farm was on display at their Buttonwillow grand opening festival Saturday, June 12, 2010. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

Chumash elders led an eight-hour blessing of the land at the South Central Farmers’ grand opening in Buttonwillow on June 12. Photo by Jennifer Baldwin

By Jennifer Baldwin

Buttonwillow – A week ago, this plot of land in the southwest corner of the Central Valley, nestled against Elk Hills, was full of scrub brush. The land hadn’t been farmed in years. It couldn’t – a well had to be dug, and a pump and water tank had to be installed.

Now, with the flip of a switch on Saturday by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-California), water flows from a new well to a new tank, via a new pump – all of which came from donations. Even the land itself was donated – 85 acres total, 27 of which was tilled earlier this week in preparation for the weekend grand opening festival.

For the Los-Angeles based nonprofit cooperative South Central Farmers, Saturday’s event marked a turning point in its effort to provide organic, pesticide-free produce to communities with limited access to healthy foods.

It also marked a turning point for Kern County, where even in California’s agricultural heartland, it’s nearly impossible to find locally grown, certified organic produce. How is it that it took inner city community gardeners to bring this to Kern County?

The Garden

Thanks to the Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Garden,” the South Central Farmers’ story has been well-chronicled. According to a representative of the farmers who goes by the name of Tezozomoc, the organization began as a 14-acre community garden in an industrial warehouse district in South Central Los Angeles. Families tended plots, and harvested the food for themselves and their neighbors. But the use of the land would only be temporary. The city of Los Angeles evicted the gardeners after the original landowner sued for his property back. Despite a lengthy court battle, and final standoff at the property, the gardeners were removed and the crops were bulldozed.

Out of the struggle grew South Central Farmers, a nonprofit cooperative in which the workers are also the owners. A farmer in Shafter offered to lease land to SCF, and they have been growing organic produce there for the past three years. While the majority of the produce is taken to Los Angeles, some is also sold at farmers’ markets in Bakersfield.

“Our mission is to provide accessible food to marginalized communities, including Bakersfield and Los Angeles,” Tezozomoc said.

A private donation for the Buttonwillow land will allow SCF to further expand their growing operations. They have plans for vegetables, an orchard, housing for workers, a packing house and even a cannery “to generate our own value-added products,” Tezozomoc said.

SCF plans to keep the Shafter farm going for now, as well.

Community support

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is just that – it’s a direct relationship between the consumer and the farmer. South Central Farmers have created a lot of relationships in both Los Angeles and the southern Central Valley. Armed with copies of the documentary, supporter Mira Tweti was able to secure some hefty donations for the Buttonwillow farm, including the pump from Goulds Pumps, a refurbished forklift from Madland Toyota, and a water tank from Central Valley Tank of California. The irrigation system will be donated by Rain for Rent.

Pat Biggs, owner of the tank manufacturing company in Fresno, was one who received a phone call and DVD from Tweti. Rather than sell SCF a used well at a discounted price, Biggs decided to build them a brand new tank. The donation was uplifting for his company during a tough year that included layoffs.

“This was a group that needed help and we wanted to give it,” Biggs said. “This organization is the grassroots of what we’re about. We’re all part of this industry.”

South Central Farmers’ main Bakersfield liaison, Ramon Galvan, was so moved when he saw the documentary at Bakersfield College, that he started volunteering his time at the Shafter farm. Now he works for SCF, harvesting produce about 20 hours per week and then selling it at four farmers’ markets in Bakersfield. (Golden State Mall, 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays; Caffeine Supreme, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, Kaiser Permanente, 8800 Ming Avenue, 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays; Mill Creek Park, 21^st and R streets, 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays.)

“My family came here as migrant workers looking for better lives for their descendents. I feel it’s my obligation to support my people and their struggle,” said Galvan, 20, who is studying ecology.

The South Central Farmers’ business plan for their CSA baskets is a little different than other traditional CSAs. While most others charge for a membership or take pre-orders, SCF also sells baskets on–the-spot at markets. Bakersfield farmers’ market shoppers pay the same price as markets in low-income communities in Los Angeles: $15 per basket. SCF also sells the same baskets in more affluent communities in Los Angeles for $20 or $25 per basket, in effect subsidizing the lower priced baskets. But the support is there.

“That kind of conscious pricing has been very effective for us,” Tezozomoc said.

Also, volunteers who put in at least two hours of work at the Shafter farm get to take home a basket for free. That’s the spirit of a cooperative, Galvan said.

The Shafter farm is open from sunrise to sunset Tuesday through Saturday. To get to the farm, take 7^th Standard Road west from Bakersfield, turn left on Mayer Avenue, and look for the blue house on the right with almond trees. The farm is after the trees.

Bridging Los Angeles and Kern County

South Central Farmers partners with community organizations in Los Angeles to make healthy produce available in areas that don’t have access to organic food choices. One such organization is WORKS, which stands for Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge and Services. Their mission is to help low-income families secure affordable housing and healthy food.

“We partner with South Central Farmers to bring it directly to our housing communities, … so they can buy organic and pesticide-free food at affordable prices,” said Alex Dorsey of WORKS.

Tezozomoc said SCF is hoping organizations in Kern County also step forward to create partnerships. Galvan does donate unsold produce to homeless shelters, churches and rehabilitation centers. But they are hoping to bring markets to areas of Bakersfield and Kern County that don’t have access to farmers’ markets and organic produce now. One organization they are currently working with is the Dolores Huerta Foundation, Tezozomoc said.

Though the food is now grown in Kern County, there is still a strong bond with the community gardens in Los Angeles.

Sunday, June 13, 2010, marked the four-year anniversary of the South Central Farmers’ eviction from their land in Los Angeles. The group held a candlelight memorial at the site, the day after celebrating the grand opening of the Buttonwillow farm. Today, that property in Los Angeles is now for sale, with a price tag of $16 million. The farmers have kicked off a fundraising campaign to buy back the land.

But they aren’t leaving Kern County. They’ve only just begun here.

“We’re very excited,” Tezozomoc said. “We haven’t abandoned one community for another, we’ve just incorporated them into our bigger community.”

For more information about South Central Farmers, visit their website at www.southcentralfarmers.com.