Long Beach Fresh

Our focus is on the following: Urban agriculture policy, community composting, farm stands, school food and youth nutrition, home kitchens and micro-entrepreneurship support are some that we've focused on in the past year.

Crop swaps, food hubs, resource maps, food tours and summits are all on our plate. We also serve as a hub for local food information, volunteer opportunities, food equity news.

We have laid the critical groundwork for a major shift in healthy food access and we want it to continue growing. Help us reach the next phase of our project, diversifying funding our operations through the local community in which we serve. We promise to continue to focus on programs and policies that will have lasting changes in the local food culture and systems.

Our programming includes uplifting the food community:
Workgroups (5)
Crop Swap
Food guides and maps
Local food system tours
Blue Ribbon Urban Agriculture Contest
Foodways Summit
Urban Agriculture Inventive Zones
Advocacy and Policy Education
Storytelling
and more

Keep up with us
www.lbfresh.org/news

Testimonials

Member of Advisory Board, Renate Boronowsky
I've been working with Long Beach Fresh for the past couple of years and I've seen first hand what they can accomplish with even a small amount of funding.
The organization works to connect locals to good food, support good food producers, and boost land access for local food production with a focus on food equity.
They are an organization full of wonderful humans doing great work to support the Long Beach food shed in all ways. Please help me support this incredible team by donating to my fundraiser. No amount is too small! Please help us reach our $15000 goal so we can continue to help make healthy food accessible to all.
Thank you all for your support!

Vice Mayor Rex Richardson,
Council District 9
Long Beach Fresh has been an invaluable resource to Council District 9. Co-directors Ryan Smolar and Tony Damico have helped our office as well as City Council ad staff to be more aware and informed of new policies and programs that can support healthy food access.

Long Beach Fresh has also been instrumental in bringing diverse local community members together, sharing leadership around shared goals and interests. Their work with the Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach to set priorities has led to their partnership in the development of a community garden at the new Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, and much more. They've helped a community leader create neighborhood "crop swaps" and a small teaching farm at our field office, a repurposed fire station, and are doing impressive work moving our schools toward more healthy food procurement.
Ryan and Tony are always on hand to help us understand the ins-and-outs of a dynamic local food system. Without their consultation and leadership, our constituents would be missing a key ingredient of a good food system.

Joe Corso, Garden Director
Long Beach Organic, Inc.
I think of Long Beach Fresh as a hub that connects all of the groups and individuals interested in improving health and nutrition in our city. They have been invaluable in helping to publicize our nine community gardens and events, and incapacity building. I am not so good at networking, so I let Long Beach Fresh do it for me. I have learned a great deal at their regular gatherings of "Eaters, Feeders and Seeders." Their annual "Long Beach County Fair" is a lighthearted gathering each spring with information booths, a produce contest and local food vendors.
Tony and Ryan are not didactic; they don't preach organic purity or other ideologies. Instead, they take things step by step, such as organizing healthier snacks at schools that are still appealing and affordable, promoting small, independent eateries and bodegas in underserved neighborhoods as an option to fast food, working with the City Council to adopt measures that encourage urban agriculture, and connecting those who are inclined to grow their own healthy food with gardening options. They have made a real impact on food diversity in the city of Long Beach.