Our Roots

Planting Seeds
Petaluma Bounty grew out of the Hub of Petaluma Foundation, which has provided initial seed funding. In late 2004, the Hub of Petaluma, assisted by Tom Joynt, conducted an assessment of the most pressing social issues facing Petaluma, and determined that the issue of hunger was paramount.

The Hub then hired Grayson James with Resource Performance Partners, a Petaluma based sustainability consulting firm, to develop a strategy and action plan for addressing hunger in Petaluma. In his meeting with leaders with all of the local emergency food and service providers, it became clear that the demand for emergency food was going to continue to growing with little end in sight. It also became clear that a more comprehensive approach was needed, beyond simply providing more food.

What emerged from this process was a multi-pronged “community food security” approach that entailed creating new sources of sustainable local food production, a community food gleaning program, and grassroots community outreach and education.

The next step in the process was to issue an “RFP” (Request for Proposals) to 10 prominent local organizations, inviting them to submit proposals to serve as the organizational “home” for this initiative. Out of this process, Elim Lutheran Church was selected for its long and successful track record of service in the community, playing key roles in starting Petaluma Ecumenical Properties (PEP), Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), the Petaluma Free Clinic (in partnership with the Petaluma Health Care District), “Dear Sudan”, and many other local projects that help those in need. In July 2006, Petaluma Bounty officially germinated, with initial seed funding from the Hub of Petaluma Foundation.

Growing
Although still just sinking our roots, through many of the conversations we’ve had with various community members and institutional leaders over the past year and a half, we are grateful to already have the support and collaboration of a number of important local organizations including the Petaluma City Schools, Petaluma Health Care District, North Coast Grown, New College, North Bay Construction, School Garden Company, Sustainable Petaluma, and Daily Acts, among others.

Currently, Petaluma Bounty is actively working on its three major program areas: creating an educational urban farm; a network of community gardens, and a community food gleaning program. Outreach to the community and education about nutrition, local food, and the importance of a healthy local food system is also a key priority.

Young Shoots
Building a healthier local food system isn’t just a matter of growing more fruits and vegetables. It involves thinking differently about where our food comes from, how it gets to our plate, its nutritional, aesthetic and sensory value, and how the food we eat has a big impact on the health and well being of ourselves, and the entire community.

In looking at many programs around the country, exploring some of their successes, failures, and lessons learned, we feel that the most effective way to influence the community’s thinking is to engage young people in the challenge.

Research shows that school based programs that engage young people in hands-on activities can reap multiple benefits. These programs, such as school gardens and Farm-to-School, influence the students directly (they eat more fruits and vegetables than their peers who don’t participate); they influence their friends (kids who sit down at a table where other kids are eating healthier tend to eat healthier as well); and, they influence their families eating patterns (they ask their parents to buy and cook healthier food). The result? Improved nutrition, a better understanding of where food really comes from, and better health and well-being.

For all of these reasons, we are actively partnering with Petaluma City Schools in a number of ways. First, we are helping to organize, build and administer two new school/community gardens at the McKinley and McDowell Elementary Schools. We are also providing partial funding for school garden coordinators at those sites. We are also working School District administrators, faculty and others to pursue develop new academic and career skill-building opportunities centered around local food production, processing and food service experiences. As our urban farm and community gardens are developed, these will be places where students are able to learn about sustainable agriculture, distribution, cooking and related areas, while earning academic credit, community service hours—and in some cases, even starting their own small-scale food businesses.