0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 60

FOOD
Yisrael
Family Farm
For those who grow their own food, the supply chain
is at home. It’s a concept Chanowk and Judith Yisrael
are teaching Sacramento’s Oak Park community
— historically a food desert — through Yisrael
Family Farm, which produces 4,000 pounds of food
annually on half an acre.
“While we’re a farm, our main job … is to get
people to grow their own food,” says Chanowk. Since
the pandemic, interest has exploded. The Yisraels
are inundated with requests for garden coaching and
seeds, and they’ve sold thousands of plants in
the last month through their nursery, nearly a
400-percent increase in sales.
Orders to shutter businesses led them to close
their office at the Fruit Ridge Community Collaborative,
where they held most of their 75-100 classes a
year. Judith says how they educate the community
has had to change. “We’re usually hands on. ‘Here’s
a lemon balm: Touch it, feel it, smell it,’ to now
having this virtual world of, ‘This is how you start
your wine-barrel garden,’” she says. More online
classes and workshops will be part of the Yisrael
Family Farm’s future to stay in contact with people
and inspire and engage those who want to grow their
own food, she says.
Chanowk says characterizing the pandemic’s impact
of food insecurity in his community depends on
whether you look at the glass half full or half empty.
With thousands of plant sales and a single tomato
plant producing 8-10 pounds of fruit, the potential
food being produced in the community is staggering.
“What’s happening is we’re starting to see this new
world that’s always been there for people like us, but
people are (saying), ‘Wait a minute, even though it’s
forced on me now, it’s something that I can emerge
out of … with a new set of skills,’” he says.
60 comstocksmag.com | August 2020