This article was written by BenitoLink intern Alexis Castro Juarez
A variety of small, organic, commercial and large scale farmers came together at the Community Foundation Epicenter on July 25 to discuss their needs, challenges and aspirations. The sessions are being hosted by BenitoLink in an effort to hear from a wide range of community members. The group of small and large farmers shared the issues they face in their business and suggested solutions to help the industry and residents in general continue to thrive in San Benito County.
“With its unique climate along with fertile soils and water supplies, agriculture is the County’s largest industry. In 2022, the gross value of agricultural production came to over $350 million,” according to the crop report posted on the San Benito County website.
During the two-hour session, participants were asked to identify their greatest concern regarding the future of farming in the county, what would be the worst outcome if this issue is not addressed.
Several participants voiced concern over Hollister “becoming another San Jose” as agriculture is being pushed out.
Richard Bianchi, a large-scale farmer and a board member of the San Benito County Farm Bureau, said that agriculture is slowly being pushed out of the county by new developments and infrastructure. For the worst case scenario he asked the group, “Where would our food come from?”
They were also asked to share their vision of the best outcome for the county possible.
Bianchi said he believes collaboration is needed to keep farming in the county.
Juan Catalan, who works with his mother, Maria Catalan on farmland in North County, said he believes that new residents from big cities do appreciate farming and the best thing to happen would be for them to learn more about the value of farming.
Karminder Brown, who grows a large garden for personal use and produces the San Benito Working Landscapes Group newsletter, noted farmers are united in the desire to protect ag land but not united in developing solutions. She said she believes if they come together the best case scenario would be no net loss of farming of ranch lands in the county.
Brittany Brown, with the San Benito County Farm Bureau added the unity between big and small farmers might help save ag land.
BenitoLink’s county-wide project, Community Vision San Benito County, is led by Program Coordinator Corinne Kappeler. As part of the opening activities, she displayed 10 goal-statements from the Community Foundation for San Benito County’s 2012 Listening Sessions and asked farmers in which areas the county had made the most progress and which areas still needed work.
Tres Pinos organic walnut farmer Paul Hain said he didn’t believe progress had been made on the issues brought forward at that time. “I didn’t find a lot of positives that came to fruition,” he said.
He said there is a lack of community leadership because elected leaders “listen to the louder voices”. He added that he believes it is better to invest in youth and families at an early stage.
Another concern brought up by the farmers was difficulty in accessing information and that their long workdays make it difficult to be involved in the community.
“Out on Fraser Lake, it’s hard to know what’s going on. We’re out there, the flood put us three months behind growing,” said farmer Linda Chu, who noted that some farmers in her part of the county are struggling financially.
Farmer Joe Tonascia said farmers are very focused on their work, leaving little time for civic engagement. “People involved in agriculture… we’re trying to make a living, we seldom have time for meetings like this, a lot of times the people who are there to represent us don’t have experience as farmers,” he said. “Our heads are down and we’re going.”
Several farmers complained about the many regulatory bodies, the quantity of rules they are expected to follow and the fact that some even contradict each other. They said that leaders don’t understand their business but regulate it.
Among the positives and a sign of progress recognized by the group, is that the county now has a leader, Supervisor Mindy Sotelo, who understands the farming industry. Sotelo was supported by the Farm Bureau through a couple local and regional leadership training programs.
Heavy and stopped traffic was brought up as an issue for transporting fresh products and making it difficult for small-scale San Benito County farmers to spend time on the road getting their products to surrounding counties.
Looking ahead to the next 10 years, farmer Maria Catalan, a Spanish speaker, said she didn’t want to see a report stating there is food insecurity in the community. Such a report was released in September 2022 by the UC Santa Cruz Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise and Participatory Governance.
“We need to think about and create a project where there’s community gardens and we’d be able to provide more for our community,” Catalan said. “In the next 10 years I want our community to be healthy,” she said through this BenitoLink intern and translator.
The 2023 Vision San Benito County Listening sessions are being supported by the Calhoun/Christiano Family Fund and the Community Foundation for San Benito County. There are approximately 20 Listening Sessions scheduled throughout September in an attempt to hear about issues and solutions from many small segments of the community. BenitoLink intends to report back to the community with the results through BenitoLink articles from each session.
There have been several results of note from the 2011-12 listening sessions:
- BenitoLink started in 2012 as a community-based nonprofit news organization that serves the residents of San Benito County with local and regional news and information.
- REACH Parks Foundation has been central to the development of parks and walking trails in San Benito county.
- The Community Foundation for San Benito County’s Women’s Fund has helped provide women with financial support and educational programs
- Local nonprofits like the San Benito County Farm Bureau identified the need for leaders with a better understanding of agriculture and successfully put time and training into bringing qualified team members into leadership positions.
To RSVP, please fill out this form, or email corinnekappeler@benitolink.com
Community Vision San Benito County is a community-wide listening project hosted by BenitoLink and sponsored by the Community Foundation for San Benito County and the Calhoun/Christiano Family Fund.
The BenitoLink Internship Program is a paid, skill-building program that prepares local youth for a professional career. This program is supported by Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Golf Tour, United Way, Taylor Farms and the Emma Bowen Foundation.
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