As Collective Roots Community Garden prepares to relocate near the East Palo Alto Farmers’ Market, Fresh Approach celebrates the history, connection, and growth cultivated at its original Woodland Avenue site.

March started off as a rollercoaster ride when news broke that Farms Together — our program delivering food sourced from local farmers to food insecure communities across California — had been paused indefinitely.

The idea of cultivating rain gardens throughout East Palo Alto was led by the community itself and is grounded in collaboration.

At its core, Farms Together facilitates the streamlined distribution of locally grown foods from small and diverse producers to food insecure communities all around the state.

The idea of cultivating rain gardens throughout East Palo Alto was led by the community itself and is grounded in collaboration.

The idea of cultivating rain gardens throughout East Palo Alto was led by the community itself and is grounded in collaboration.

Bay Area born and raised, Oliver Gayo was always fascinated by growing his own food and uplifting his community. Inspired by his family’s small home garden, dissatisfied from the quality of grocery store produce, and a desire to see more healthy food options in West Contra Costa County, he decided to become a farmer.

Yadira Mendiola never anticipated that she would one day become a farmer—let alone be crowned the queen of vegetables herself…

17 years later, it’s thriving: every Wednesday at Bloomhouse, the market is actively creating opportunities to build stronger relationships between the people of the East Palo Alto community, the farmers who produce the food, and the community-serving organizations.

When Celsa Ortega immigrated to the United States with her children in 2006, she found herself missing the smell of the earth she once tilled with her grandparents in their milpas—traditional, terraced farm plots—in the Sierra Madre mountains of Oaxaca…