Puentes America

 

Boggs Tract Community Garden

When you stop by the grocery store to buy your produce for the week, you can usually figure out one thing about the product you are buying- the price. You are putting it in the cart to take home to your family, but you're not sure where it's from, how it was harvested, or even who grew it. If you don't like the crop available that week then you are simply out of luck This is just one example of how your input is silenced by the disconnect American's have with their food.

Founded in 2009, Puentes America is reclaiming ownership over Stockton's produce by putting the responsibility back into the hands of the citizens. Stockton Harvest is a program run on the three acre Boggs Tract Community Farm, one of Puentes' two farms located in Stockton. For $60 a month, a box of six to seven different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables is delivered to your home every Friday. This produce comes straight from the farm itself. A farm which you can visit and even volunteer on. Because Puentes is a non-profit organization that runs entirely on donations, the revenue from Stockton Harvest stays at the farm in order to assists them in their goal of becoming a completely self-sustaining farm by 2014.

However, the mission and vision of Puentes is to do more than just give out food. Puentes' other farm, San Joaquin Fair Community Garden, acts as training garden where twenty families commit to at least four hours a week to work on their own 400 square foot plot. For an annual $20 fee the land and its fruition is theirs to do with as they please so long as they are meeting the standards of sustainable farming practices. These families also receive additional educational resources in order to help prepare them to use their land.

 

Families working in the garden

These classes and hands on learning experience empowers citizens to become directly involved with the quality of food they are taking home to their families by providing them with a valuable skill set. Additionally, Puentes is a source of motivation for families all across Stockton because they offer an example of how families can hold the key not only to the success of their families but to the success of their community as well.

 
As a young company Puentes still wants to expand their services to include certification classes and increase their capacity for hosting families on their training garden. They would even like to add more bee hives to start selling their own natural honey, a food forest of 120 trees, and even expand into the world of aquaculture.
 
One of the easiest ways to get involved with Puentes, besides donations, is to visit them on the second Saturday of every month for their Family Farm Work Day. Hours run from about 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Bring your family out to visit the farm and get your hands dirty seeing what Puentes is all about. Not only is it a great way to become an active participant in your food resources, but it is also a wonderful opportunity to reinvest in your community.
 
 
Check out their Facebook and their website for more details!