New Season Community Development Corporation will develop a regional food hub in Esparto, California, in partnership with

with Network partners Capay Valley Farm Shop (CVFS), Yolo Food Bank, Durst Organic Growers, Spork Food Hub, Fiery Ginger Farm, Hatamiya Group, Kitchen Table Advisors, and Valley Vision. Valley Vision is the planning project manager. For more information, visit yolofoodhub.com or contact Grace.Kaufman@ValleyVision.org

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Yolo Food Hub Network will consist in new and expanded existing facilities for aggregating, processing, storing and distributing farm produce grown in Yolo County and surrounding areas.

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The Yolo County Board of Supervisors has approved a $2M contribution toward the project. New Season’s Yolo Food Hub has joined a coalition of regional partners, including the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources network and Valley Vision, to apply for additional funding through the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better initiative. Our group was one of three to receive an official letter of support from Governor Newsom’s GoBiz office.

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The need for a food hub in the region has long been recognized, but COVID-19 has made addressing this need extremely urgent. The project will provide pandemic relief for local farmers, offer fresh and nutritious foods to Yolo County regional school children, improve regional food security, increase employment and job training opportunities, and stabilize food markets, among other pandemic relief benefits. Yolo Food Bank’s supplies, in particular, will be secured and expanded through the proposed food hub.

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There are many reasons why Esparto is the best location for the proposed food hub. It serves as a gateway, both geographically and symbolically, between vibrant communities of small and mid-sized farmers in the Capay and West Sacramento valleys. Esparto is also the site of an already flourishing (if smaller) food hub, operated by Capay Valley Farm Shop. As a majority-Latinx town in one of the least food-secure, unincorporated parts of Yolo County, its residents remain among the worst-impacted demographic in the pandemic. If you are a member of Esparto’s Latinx community, please consider joining our project team. For more information or to join our project team, visit our Contact page.