San Ysidro Farms is a 1700 acre farm in Nipomo. They grow a variety of vegetables including:
Broccoli,
cauliflower,
brussel sprouts,
celery,
iceberg lettuce,
cilantro,
baby bok choy,
fennel,
leeks,
strawberries, and
Kale
Beachside Produce is in charge of the sales portion of the farm. Their phone number is 805-249-5600. For more information about the farm itself, you can also contact Vince, who is with San Ysidro Farms at (805) 720-6732, or you can call the main office of San Ysidro Farms at (805) 929-1183.
At this time, San Ysidro Farms is not doing deliveries; however, their produce can be found in grocery stores across states. Vince, whom we spoke to over the phone, said the farm is doing all they can to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. They are ensuring social distancing by keeping harvest crews apart. In addition, they only 50% of the crews on site, therefore taking twice as much time to harvest and costing twice as much as well. Furthermore, employees wear masks, and gloves, and have conference calls instead of in person meetings.
During an interview with Vince, he shared his favorite way to cook brussel sprouts is to boil them and cut them in half, put them in a tin foil tray with red wine, olive oil, and other seasoning, then put on the grill or in the oven. He also enjoys preparing celery by juicing them. As a result of COVID-19, they have seen a dramatic decline in sales, especially lettuce. In fact, they had to throw away 40 acres of perfectly fine lettuce due to the lack of demand. Similarly, in other parts of the country, farmers are burying onions, smashing eggs, and dumping milk into lakes, according to this New York Times article.
We understand everyone is trying to stock up on necessities and avoiding extra trips to the store. As a result, many people are turning to canned goods and sauces. However, it is so disheartening that so much food is going to waste as a result of the pandemic. This is why we created this website: to shine a light on local farmers in an effort to encourage the community to eat local and eliminate the amount of food being wasted. You can help support our project by purchasing items from local farmers, sharing our website on social media and/or following us on Facebook. We invite you to join our Facebook page Eating Local on the Central Coast.
Thank you, farmers, grocery clerks, and medical professionals for fighting to keep us fed and healthy during these difficult times.
Emily & Talia
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