Healthy Lands, Helping Hands

As John Muir famously wrote in My First Summer in the Sierra: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” As we reach out to our neighbors in these trying times, we have seen the interdependence between the health of the land and waters of Elkhorn Slough and our larger community — profound connections linking families, education, farming, and conservation.

For so many people in our community and around the world, 2020 has been a year of unprecedented challenges. The pandemic continues to threaten public health and disrupt the rhythms of our lives, separating us from friends and colleagues, and drastically altered our daily routines.Wildfires raged on the Central Coast and across the West, displacing friends and loved ones, and darkening the skies. Compounding these challenges for many families, food insecurity — an unavailability of affordable, quality food — looms as another cloud on an already dark horizon.

ESF Board Vice President Bob Hartmann, Board member Dr. Laura Solorio, and Denise Danisch prepare produce boxes to distribute at Pajaro Valley Middle School.

Yet amid these hardships, we see bright rays of hope, generosity, and solidarity. Each week, our partners in the Healthy Lands, Helping Hands initiative — a collaboration between the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, local farmers, and area school districts — team up to combat food insecurity by distributing boxes of fresh, organic produce to children and families in need, as well as recipes for preparing nutritious meals. To date, the partnership has delivered more than 20 tons of produce, amounting to meals for approximately 500 families through the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the North Monterey County Unified School District each week.

Hall District Elementary School staff helper Tiffany Ventura displays a rainbow of fresh produce

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands has not only benefited the families receiving boxes of produce, the program supports each of our partners in the initiative. Farmers like Javier Zamora and Jesus Calvillo, who cultivate organic farmland protected by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation, have added a market for their produce in a time of flux, and have leapt at the opportunity to support the communities where they live and work.

Connie Norris, Food Service Supervisor at Hall District Elementary School flanked by farmers Jesus Calvillo (left) and Javier Zamora (right)

The school districts have been able to expand the number of children and families that they support, which means their students are well-nourished and better able to concentrate on schoolwork, hopefully relieving at least one concern for themselves and their families.

Pajaro Valley Middle School Nutritionist Sandra Sanchez distributes produce to students’ families.

As we help sustain local farms and families, Healthy Lands, Helping Hands enables us to connect even more deeply with the people we serve. This initiative had its roots in the partnership between the Elkhorn Slough Foundation and Hall District Elementary in Las Lomas, where we mentor the next generation of stewards and scientists at ESF’s Carneros Creek Outdoor Classroom. We recognize these enthusiastic students as the future of conservation and, while we miss our monthly classes beneath the spreading oak tree, we are heartened to continue developing this important bond with them and their families. From the ridgeline to the tideline, from farm to table, and from the outdoors to the classroom, we are grateful to be connected with our community.

The students we mentor at our Carneros Creek Outdoor Classroom and other outreach programs are the future of conservation science.

Healthy Lands, Helping Hands Manos Amigas, Tierras Protegidas

This fresh, organic produce was locally grown by JSM Organics and Calvillo Farms on lands protected by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. We are pleased to sponsor this distribution of food through the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the North Monterey County Unified School District to support healthy families, farms, and lands.

Fresh organic produce from the farms of Jesus Calvillo and Javier Zamora

Este producto fresco y orgánico fue cultivado localmente por JSM Organics y Calvillo Farms en tierras protegidas por Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Nos complacemos en patrocinar esta distribución de alimentos para el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Pajaro Valley y el Distrito Escolar Unificado del Norte del Condado de Monterey con el fin de fomentar la salud de todas nuestras familias, granjas, y tierras.

Organic farming and native habitat coexist at ESF’s Brothers Ranch,