Puente is helping South Coast farmers explore finding a new footing in a San Francisco market eager for fresh, locally grown ingredients. Expansion is the key to survival, isolated as they are between major cities, says Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel.

“We saw that farmers need more outlets for their products, and agriculture on the South Coast needs more visibility,” Lobel says.

And if local agriculture survives, so too do local schools and businesses.

“So many small farms have been here less than 10 years. It’s hard to say what their future will be. If there is more demand, the small farms can get to be medium-sized farms,” says Doniga Markegard, who co-owns Markegard Family Grass-Fed with her husband, Erik.

Pescadero Grown! and other markets offer a limited audience for perishables, and they require a farmer to give up a whole day of work just to staff a food booth. But what if the demand were consistent enough to justify the labor involved?

That’s what Puente hopes to help farmers tap into. And the signs are very encouraging. Betsy Rix, co-owner of the Red Vic Movie House, has offered a space in the former San Francisco movie house to sell Pescadero produce one day a week. Rix and her husband Jack hope to reopen the Red Vic in March as an event space and incubator for food entrepreneurs. The couple lives in San Mateo County, and Rix is a founding board member of Pie Ranch.

“We want to use our event space to bring Pescadero Grown! in – maybe it would give them a toehold into the local market,” says Rix.

Markegard has also heard from restaurants in San Francisco and Half Moon Bay who are interested in stocking up on South Coast produce. And she believes that if South Coast farmers are willing to collaborate, they could tap into a lucrative emerging online marketplace for farm-to-person sales. Sites like GoodEggs allow customers to place orders in advance. They get exactly what they want, and growers can bypass the farmer’s market altogether.

“Whether the South Coast is ready for that is a whole other question. But it’s an amazing opportunity,” says Lobel.

Do local farmers and ranchers have enough products to sell somewhere else? Will Puente need to take on a coordinating role to help them reach those markets? These are questions Markegard will explore in the coming months on Puente’s behalf.

To learn more or participate in Puente’s efforts, contact Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x144.

Why we give to Puente: Jim Brigham and Michael Scott

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine how much your neighbors need your help until you get to know them. So it was for both Jim Brigham and Michael Scott, two longtime Puente volunteers who have spent years giving their own community members a leg up on the South Coast.

For Jim Brigham, a retired clinical social worker, the first defining moments of his work with Puente began when he moved into a home with his wife, Gen, in the Butano redwoods in 2004. It wasn’t long before he met the Rev. Wendy Taylor, founder of Puente, and Carol Young-Holt, Puente’s earliest backer and volunteer. Brigham started volunteering to host La Sala, Puente’s biweekly social event for farm workers, and then began helping with food distribution.

He saw first-hand how difficult it was for farm workers to avail themselves of even the most basic medical services, so he stepped in to drive them to doctor’s appointments in Redwood City.

“Puente is the model of bringing social services to a place where there are none. It couldn’t be done any better,” says Brigham, who now lives in Half Moon Bay. He was a founding board member with Puente in 2005, and he stepped down in 2009.

Today, Brigham is a sustaining donor and plays Santa Claus in Puente’s annual Christmas celebration. A few years ago he donated his Jeep to Puente. It has since become known as the “PuenteMobile.”

Jim Brigham as Santa Claus with Puente staffer Alejandra Ortega and her son Aaron.

“Puente connects the two sides – Spanish and Anglo – so both become visible to the other in a positive way, and increases the chance of respect and understanding,” he says.

Michael Scott connected with Puente ten years ago when a friend told him about the plight of farm workers who slept in improvised shacks, without enough food or basic supplies. Scott had already founded Coastside Hospitality, which distributes funds, clothing and food to poor and homeless Coastsiders via local nonprofit services.

Scott delivered food to farms on the South Coast, and Christmas gifts in December. He bought supplies for student backpacks at the start of the school year.

“I think all of us have a responsibility to share their experience, their resources, and to help people in their community,” says Scott. “My community is the coast.”

Mike Scott with volunteers Daisy Woods and Lucy Fernandez

Scott retired from a lucrative career as a Silicon Valley venture capitalist in 2003 and used part of his earnings to bankroll a variety of basic safety net services, like a rent subsidy program and an emergency subsidy program for less fortunate neighbors. Volunteers at Catholic Worker House in Half Moon Bay, an organization supported by Scott,  feed as many as 400 locals every week.

In Pescadero, Scott made a sizeable gift to renovate the local Catholic Church. And he still goes on a major Christmas shopping spree every year on behalf of hundreds of Puente program participants.

“I have a lot of time and a lot or resources so that’s what I do,” he says.

Puente needs volunteers! To learn how you can help (or donate), contact Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x144.