The Southwest Voice

By: Patty Scott

You know what they say about word of mouth … My family and I moved to Bakersfield over six years ago and we had heard of the amazing agriculture in this Central Valley area. Moving from a big city, we had anticipated small farmers selling their wares all over town. We didn’t know we had moved into the agricultural Mecca of the United States and that the majority of the produce grown here feeds our nation. As a result, I had somewhat given up on finding farm grown local produce with the exception of our seasonal farmer’s market. 

 

Five weeks ago I hit the gold mine. A friend of mine said, “We have to go pick up our vegetables on Saturday and then run some other errands.” When I asked what she meant by “picking up her vegetables,” she told me all about Abundant Harvest Organics. A group of farmers from the Central Valley (near Kingsburg) who are all successful, organic farmers have joined together and formed this group. They pick vegetables, fruit and salad items from their farms, bring them to one main refrigerated warehouse and then one truck brings this fresh, organic produce to Bakersfield once a week. I was intrigued. Like most other people, I always promise myself I’ll eat more veggies, but rarely have I followed through on this commitment to better health with any kind of consistency. 

 

I checked out the website and I read the bios of the farmers involved. The cost per week is $16.80 for a small crate and $28.80 for a large crate. For our family the small crate has served well. We signed up and have been so impressed. The food is so fresh and delicious. We have had baby artichokes, kiwi, carrots, lettuce, oranges and nectarines, spinach, potatoes, squash and more. The selection we receive is seasonal, so variety will always be coming our way. All this has been at the same cost or less than what I was paying to purchase non-organic items at our grocery. The benefit (besides great taste and improved health) is that there is no excess packaging, no wasted fossil fuels, and no need for multiple modes of transportation. The food is straight from the family farm to our family the same week it is picked. 

 

We meet at Beale Park (Off Oleander) at around 8:30 - 9:30am each Saturday and line up to get our crates of goodies. The spirit there at the pick-up is one of community and friendliness. Everyone there is united in this fun venture. It feels like a step back in time to the day when the farmer was the source of food and your food came from a friend in town. Recently Abundant Harvest Organics has added other organic “add on” items such as milk, chicken, nuts, raisins, etc. And these can be added to any week’s order for an additional cost. Today when we arrived to pick up our crate we were surprised with extra tangerines and a head of lettuce that wasn’t on this week’s list. The farmers had extra harvest and they blessed us with their surplus. 

 

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