It is our CSA team goal this year to grow more relationships with small farms; and we have made lots of progress in this first quarter. We have a lot to say about what is going on in the agricultural world, and have great hopes for the future of small, local farms thriving. Today we are spotlighting Big Beaner Ranch in Salinas Valley. It is run by an independent woman farmer, who helps her neighbor farmers find buyers; forming a Food Hub. Meet Josefina!
Josefina was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, she immigrated with her family in 1994 to the Salinas Valley where she currently resides. She is a fourth-generation family farmer and is passionate about the arts, policy, food justice, and regenerative agriculture. She has a graduate degree in Public Administration, with a focus on Conflict, Security and Development in Latin America, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and studied Global Studies at California State University Monterey Bay where through her time abroad earned a Peace Studies minor at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Through her work and volunteerism, she has served her community locally and internationally, most recently as a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Java, Indonesia. She hopes to further advance the role of women and immigrants in agriculture and is currently farming at Big Beaner Ranch in Hollister, CA.
Instagram: @bigbeanerranch