OCEANSIDE — Amid growing disruption in the nation’s food supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many local families are struggling with food insecurity and to put fresh food on the table. The food shortages are felt even more acutely in “food deserts” that exist in some areas of Oceanside. On Friday, May 22, the North River Farms team will deliver local produce and meal kits to 100 families in need to provide high-quality nutrition at this time of crisis. This donation calls attention to the need for locally produced food and a connection in the chain to those who really need it. Members of the media are invited to attend and cover this event. No advance publicity is requested.
The food delivery will take place at Villa Storia, Oceanside’s first inclusionary housing community, built by the same development team behind North River Farms. To benefit the residents of Villa Storia, as well as Chicano Federation-affiliated daycare providers serving low-income families in Oceanside, the residents and daycare providers will be invited to pick up the free boxes of food and bags of fresh, locally-grown produce. The produce was grown locally by The Ecology Center.
What: Local produce and meal kit giveaway to low-income families
When: Friday, May 22, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Villa Storia, 4250 Corte Sol, Oceanside, CA 92057
Who: Members of North River Farms will be greeting families and handing boxes of locally grown produce and fresh meal kits.
• Lance Waite, North River Farms
• Gil Miltenberger, North River Farms
• Ninia Hammond, North River Farms
Significance:
Parts of Oceanside have been designated “food deserts” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning that residents struggle without convenient access to fresh, healthy food sources. And
while Oceanside’s agricultural industry is well established, most families in Oceanside do not have access to the produce grown in their own backyard.
Approved by the City of Oceanside in 2019, North River Farms will establish a new farm focused on fresh produce, to be operated by The Ecology Center, a nonprofit. The farm will create a locally grown food supply chain that will produce food for 1,500 Oceanside families – feeding more than three times the population of North River Farms – along with affordable homes, approximately 700 permanent jobs, and millions of funding for local schools, parks, public services and traffic improvements that will benefit everyone in Oceanside. North River Farms will generate $5.9 million annually in permanent economic impact for Oceanside, according to the San Diego North Economic Development Council. During construction, which includes tens
of millions in off-site road and infrastructure improvements, the economic impact for Oceanside will be $86.4 million.
Oceanside voters have the opportunity to lock in these community benefits by voting “yes” on North River Farms this November. The North River Farms referendum was placed on the November 2020 ballot by a small group of special interests. A new campaign, Oceanside Grown, will tell voters about the project’s many public benefits and urge them to vote “yes” on North River Farms this fall. For more information, please visit oceansidegrown.com.
