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Valley Verde to sell culturally-meaningful and hard-to-find seedlings for families to ensure food security and comfort during pandemic and economic uncertainty
Today, Valley Verde launched a new offering of seedlings for culturally-preferred produce at a price point that communities can afford (even offering a discount to low-income shoppers). With unemployment and the cost of living high and a crisis like COVID-19 hitting our community, a backyard or porch garden can provide economic security and a nutritional safety net for families in need.
“Families want to grow healthy, fresh, organic, and affordable culturally-meaningful organic produce like Thai basil, bitter melon, chayote, and chili peppers in their own gardens. We are here to help them every way we can,” said Raul Lozano, Founder of Valley Verde. “People can grow their own food and eat it, share it, or even sell it to other families in the community.”
Diverse South Bay communities can have difficulty finding seedlings for the healthy, culturally-meaningful, and organic produce they would like to grow and eat. When families must rely on big stores and corporations for food access it can be easy to feel disconnected from their cultural food roots. With this new effort, Valley Verde is making it easier to grow the vegetables that our communities want.
Valley Verde has provided participants in gardening courses with homeland seedlings for four years, and is now expanding this opportunity to meet community demand. This includes opening an in-person nursery at 59 S Autumn St. on Saturday, March 27th where families can buy seedlings and have access to resources for new gardeners.
Lozano added, “Food unites our communities and nourishes our souls. Planting seedlings in a home garden or community garden is a critical first step to food security. Harvesting foods from our heritage is also a way of investing in the future and creating the community we want to see.”
To tell this story, we can offer media:
- Interviews with Valley Verde representatives (Languages: English, Spanish, Punjabi, Hindi)
- Interviews with local growers/gardeners (Languages: TBD)
- Site visits to the nursery, including on the day of its grand opening – Saturday, March 27th, 9am
- Photos and b-roll of gardens and people working in their gardens
Seedlings will be available for sale at:
- 59 S Autumn St., San Jose, CA (Tuesday-Sunday, 9am-4pm)
- www.valleyverde.org/shop
Homeland seedlings for sale (at prices ranging from $5.00 – $10.00) include:
- Amaranth
- Thai Basil
- Chinese bitter melon
- Alok – bottle gourd
- Chayote
- Chinese eggplant
- Satsuma long eggplant
- Squashes and zucchinis
- Cilantro
- Fenugreek
- Daikon radish
- Epazote
- Huacatay
- Hoja Santa
- Thai hot chili and other peppers
- Okra
- Lemongrass
- Habanero, jalapenos, and serranos
About Valley Verde
Valley Verde is a San Jose-based nonprofit focused on increasing self-sufficiency, health, and resilience through a culturally informed community based food system. We own greenhouses and help local residents plant gardens to promote food security. We offer monthly workshops and one-on-one mentorship in a variety of languages (including Spanish) to help home gardeners have a successful harvest. We want to support our community as they build resilience through food sovereignty by providing culturally preferred vegetable seedlings, environmental education, and supporting the development of edible gardens.