Impact
Impact
Grow2Zero FARMS addresses significant human and environmental impacts by:
We serve food insecure households and individuals in Long Beach through a holistic approach that nourishes, sustains, and educates.
Our food distribution program currently reaches more than 60 local families a week on-site at the farm and over 40 households at the Century Villages at Cabrillo, reaching low-income families, veterans, and homebound individuals. Our community workshops reach hundreds of local community members every week.
Since 2020, Grow2Zero has established itself as a trusted and reliable community resource for weekly healthy and locally grown food distribution, executed in partnership with food rescue agencies Food Forward and Food Finders and supplemented with local produce grown on-site on our urban farm in Long Beach.
Grow2Zero manages a weekly local food distribution program that incorporates locally grown, organic produce grown on-site at the community farm with rescued foods. We maintain principles of sustainability and strive to decrease the amount of food waste being generated by working with the community to better understand which foods are more/less likely to be consumed, soliciting input for culturally appropriate recipe development which will inform an upcoming community food project funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
We host community-based workshops/webinars that focus on composting, food waste reduction, food preparation, organic gardening and non-toxic pest control practices to help reduce household waste and pollution, provide access to nutritious food, and encourage healthy food habits. The workshops are held for all members of the local community with the intention to educate the public at large about the reality of food insecurity and our role/abilities to reduce waste around us.
Grow2Zero is developing the Future Urban Farmers Academy, an online and in-person urban farm training program for young adults in Long Beach and the greater SoCal community, providing a pathway for LBUSD graduates, particularly non-college-bound high school graduates, to continue vocational training while connecting them with job opportunities and entrepreneurial endeavors in urban agriculture.
Also, the online component of the program will be made available to non-college-bound high school graduates throughout Southern California via outreach to additional large school districts with low college enrollment rates, including Los Angeles Unified and San Bernardino Unified School Districts.
We reach at-risk youth and provides opportunities for socio-economic growth and employment with an educational program that focuses on urban farming careers, affordable food access in low-income communities, and addressing the needs of food insecurity in an urban environment. Grow2Zero is working in partnership with the Long Beach Unified School District to implement a school garden curriculum for middle and high school aged children.
