Edible Schoolyard Community Farm in Stockton

We're proud to announce that the Edible Schoolyard Project recently secured the lease to a community farm in South Stockton located at 466 S. Ventura Ave. We've been working closely with the community for nearly two years to build the foundation of Stockton's Edible Schoolyard and know that stewarding this space will allow us to continue to grow deep roots here. We look forward to working with students and community members at the farm to build gardening and culinary skills through an array of edible education programs. More details about programming and community events will be available in the coming weeks!

Cooking Video Series by Chef Liesha

Ever wondered how to properly store ingredients in your kitchen? Are you interested in learning how to prepare delicious meals for yourself and your family? Chef Liesha's here to help! Click the button below to watch a series of videos that will set you up for cooking success.

Watch the videos here

 When schools closed due to COVID-19 later that month, ESYP used grant resources to ensure the community of South Stockton had reliable access to fresh, organic produce. Through partnerships with local and regional organic farms, City of Stockton Community Services, Stockton Unified School District, local Community-Based Organizations, and Nourish Stockton, we began distributing grant funded CSA boxes to the community with support from the team at Taylor Leadership Academy.

By December 2020, more than 15,000 boxes had been delivered to families in the community. Each box comes with resources and instructional tools from our Edible Education at Home curriculum, so that students and families could recreate the kinds of experiential learning opportunities they would have had on campus from the safety of their homes.

In the 2020 / 2021 school year, ESY Stockton hosted online classes and virtual gatherings for students and families at Taylor Leadership Academy. We also provided free organic CSA food boxes to the community of South Stockton. Students took part in engaging lessons that taught them how to cook using seasonal, fresh ingredients. Students who participated in the afterschool program also received an organic produce box to take home featuring ingredients they used and learned about in class.

Thank you to our supporters!

We have had the wonderful opportunity to work with the following groups at the Edible Schoolyard Project Community Farm and with our organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Food Box program:

Changeist

Changeist has been partnering with ESYP Stockton since the fall of 2020. Together we worked with the students at Taylor Leadership Academy in South Stockton. Chef Liesha and the interns from Changeist taught a weekly cooking class to the students in the after school program. This year we expanded our partnership from the classroom to include work on the farm. We have plans to continue to collaborate on community events in the near future. 

Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT)

IYT at McNair High School in Lodi assisted ESYP Stockton in distributing organic CSA boxes this summer which sparked a larger partnership this fall. The students are looking forward to monthly farm visits and hands-on cooking classes starting soon. We will meet monthly to learn new recipes and get hands in the soil at our farm. 

Discovery Challenge Academy

Discovery Challenge Academy in Lathrop brought 30 students to the farm to assist in farm maintenance this month. The students will come each Saturday to help plot holders and our team with crop planting and maintenance of the farm. 

4H of San Joaquin County

The San Joaquin County Ambassador Alijah Pacheco officially requested to become partners with Edible Schoolyard Project Stockton. We are currently in the process of developing a master calendar of events and we are looking forward to engaging with the UCANR community this year. 

A portion of the work taking place is supported by California Strategic Growth Council’s Transformative Climate Communities Program with funds from California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.