Aivres Community Partnership Spotlight: Veggielution

As a part of Aivres’ ongoing corporate social responsibility and community engagement initiatives, we have partnered this month with Veggielution, a six-acre community farm in East San Jose that serves to connect the neighborhood’s residents through food and agriculture.

Veggielution’s Story

Veggielution began in 2008 when three San Jose State students started a garden at Emma Prusch Farm Park, named for the San Jose native who gifted the city 87 acres of land to use as a public space for recreation and agricultural education. Since then, Veggielution has expanded to now occupy six of those acres on which to grow fresh produce, pack food for distribution, and host various social programs. The farm provides access to fresh, organic produce for low-income, mostly immigrant households for whom healthy food options are often unaffordable. It is also a hub for education, advocacy, and community-building. Managed by a small team of staff, various volunteer-driven efforts, and local sponsorships, the farm gives everyone who takes part a sense of ownership over the land and its uses.

Why we chose Veggielution

Before the tech boom that made Silicon Valley, the Bay Area was known as “the Valley of Heart’s Delight”, a thriving agricultural community for over a century that boasted rich orchards and farmlands. Now, most of that land has given way to industrial complexes and tech campuses. Acknowledging the role that tech has had in shaping the Bay Area landscape, we believe stewardship of shared commons is an important and necessary responsibility to make these valuable resources – enjoyable public spaces, nutritional food, and a healthy environment – accessible to all. Working with Veggielution also lets us experience a different way to learn from and connect with the community.

Volunteering with Veggielution

Our team of volunteers met with the Veggielution personnel on the farm to pack farm boxes for distribution to recipients of their food program. For two hours we assembled cardboard boxes and filled them with nutritious, organic fruits and vegetables like pears, plums, cabbage, broccoli, kale, tomatoes, and onions. We learned that while there is food grown on the farm, the produce for farm box distribution comes from local partner farms, specifically BIPOC-owned ones, in places like Watsonville and Hollister. At the end of our session, we had packed over 260 boxes – as many households that would receive a variety of fresh, healthful produce to sustain their families. It was an accomplishment that felt palpable and meaningful to the volunteer team, who enjoyed this valuable opportunity to do hands-on work for good in a community space.

Click here to learn more about Veggielution’s work, volunteer opportunities, and community programs.