Sonoma County residents turn to food boxes from local farms amid pandemic

Since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in March, Sonoma County residents have signed up in droves for food box subscriptions directly from local farms.

Such programs, often referred to as community supported agriculture membership plans, have become an increasingly popular option for those seeking fresh local meat and produce without having to rely on an unstable food supply chain or risk virus exposure by constant trips to the supermarket.

However, for many farms, consumer food delivery gains have been largely offset by area restaurants’ plummeting demand for their meat and produce.

Sarah Silva, co-founder of Green Star Farms in Sebastopol, offers monthly food boxes containing a selection of pasture-raised eggs, chicken, pork, lamb and goat for delivery or pickup.

She launched the food-delivery membership program in late 2019 and saw subscriptions grow to close to 100 this spring as the pandemic upended national supply chains, causing shortages of certain cuts of meat at supermarkets.

”You’re holding a spot for yourself for the future product. And I think that security is something people really need right now,” Silva said.

Tiffani Beckman-McNeil, of Santa Rosa, was already signed up for a Green Star Farms subscription by the time panicked shoppers stocked up on meat and other items from local grocery stores in the early days of the pandemic.

“We’ve been supporting farmers in this way for quite a while,” Beckman-McNeil said. “We already felt like we were food secure because this was already how we were feeding ourselves.”

Tierra Vegetables Farm in Santa Rosa, which offers seasonally grown fruits and vegetables, also has seen a spike in memberships during the pandemic.

“People who have signed up are really enjoying it,” farm co-owner Lee James said. “They enjoy being able to pick it up here in the open.”

In large part to help farmers stay afloat during the pandemic, FEED Sonoma, a wholesale distributor for local farms including Green Star Farms and Tierra Vegetables, started delivering food boxes directly to consumers. Since launching the program in March, over 1,000 customers have registered each week to receive deliveries containing meat and produce from around 85 different farms.

“It really is an opportunity from the farm community’s perspective to create the sustainable food system we’ve always wanted,” said Sonoma FEED’s Tim Page.

Even so, Page said fewer people are signing up for the program now compared to the first months of the pandemic, though he added it’s possible the state’s coming regional stay-home order could renew interest in farm deliveries.

Regardless, Page said many Sonoma County farmers are now relying on local customers’ direct support, especially as the pandemic is expected to continue disrupting grocery supply channels for months to come.

“Don’t go away. Our farmers need you,” Page said. “Our local farmers here in Sonoma County are surviving on a knife’s edge.”

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian