On the Farm
A woman-led nonprofit farm nurtures the land and those who tend it.
A women-led farm nurtures the community around it.
It’s a brilliantly sunny day in Ventura County, on a squarish piece of land near the Southern California coast. At The Abundant Table farm, tucked between the cities of Camarillo and Oxnard, the temperature is in the mid-60s, fine for the cool weather veggies growing with great enthusiasm on the farm’s 4 acres. Just four people tend the rows of plants, which include everything from greens such as kale and spinach, to cabbage, broccoli, turnips, carrots, beets and radishes. “Anything that’s a row crop that’s in season, we’re probably growing it,” says Reyna Ortega, The Abundant Table’s interim executive director. “And strawberries!”
But what’s remarkable about this farm isn’t so much what’s grown there; it’s how it’s grown— and why. A nonprofit, certified organic venture, The Abundant Table is about “valuing land,” says Erynn Smith, the former Abundant Table farm education director and a current board member. “It’s about valuing connection with land, valuing care for land and valuing connection and care for those who tend the land.”
Making the Mission a Reality
The means by which this mission materializes at The Abundant Table are many. It begins with
organic farming sustained by practices that include crop rotation, cover cropping and water conservation. The mission continues through how and where the fruits of this labor are then distributed. While the farm sells its fruits and vegetables through such traditional avenues as local markets and restaurants, they are also available farther afield for people lacking access to affordable and nutritious food.
Among the ways The Abundant Table reaches out to those of less financial means is by donating a portion of its harvest to area organizations that serve people experiencing food insecurity.
The farm sends fruits and veggies to local schools where at least 50% of the children qualify for federally assisted food initiatives. Along with its regular community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share program, The Abundant Table is home to a special Indigenous CSA, founded to supply fresh produce at reasonable prices to families of farmworkers throughout Ventura County.
Closer to home, the farm makes sure its own workers can afford to purchase produce and the other necessities for a healthy lifestyle by providing them not only with a fair wage, but also health benefits.
Founded in 2009, the farm grew out of an Episcopal and Lutheran campus ministry at California State University Channel Islands. The goals were to minister from within Ventura County’s large agricultural community, as well as to provide farming internship opportunities for young adults after college. But the deeper mission, according to Reyna, “was really stewarding and caring for creation.”
A New Way to Farm
The mission has continued through the farm’s newest incarnation. Last May, The Abundant Table transitioned to a nonprofit worker cooperative with five members, four of whom are women. “There is shared decision-making and all collective members’ voices are active in making decisions about how we work,” Reyna, who speaks Spanish, explains through
Erynn, who interprets for her. “And so the decisions about the farm are made by the folks who are working most closely with the farm. It’s hugely beneficial to have that shared decisionmaking. It creates space for us to be learning deeply as we go together.”
The Abundant Table’s method of farming encourages women to take leadership roles, Reyna says. Before she arrived at the farm,
Reyna was a longtime worker at massive industrial farms, where she says she found limitations had been placed “on what women could and could not do.”
“But here we’re farming in a system where there’s a lot of responsibility for learning and doing,” she says. “And for those who are willing and able to do that, there are not really any limits on how far they can go.”
This responsibility is meant not only for members of The Abundant Table—it extends to area students through an initiative called Farm-Based Education. One of The Abundant Table’s longest-running, most successful projects, the program brings youth of all ages to the farm to learn about everything from plant-based nutrition and cooking to “every kind of science standard in existence,” says Erynn, who founded the program. “The farm is such a vibrant place to teach nutrient cycles in soil, water cycles, plant parts, biology and chemistry.
Kids are experiencing those scientific concepts hands-on, and so it’s just such a joyful learning experience.”
Rooted in Faith
Joyful is a good description for the farm, and that is in no doubt significantly due to the faith that runs through it. While the Episcopal and Lutheran churches no longer have a role in the daily operation of The Abundant Table, their values and spirituality remain firmly rooted in it.
This deep faith manifests in the way the organization has continued to unceasingly serve its community as well as through the interfaith services it hosts, often in the farm fields. All are welcome at the ecumenical devotions, which are sometimes led by the farmers, including Reyna, and where worshippers often include those of the Anabaptist, Catholic and Protestant traditions.
After its reorganization last year, the farm is getting ready for a 3½-acre expansion, which will enable it to increase production and broaden initiatives like its volunteer program. Called Open Farm, the program gives people a chance to connect with the land while learning about different facets of sustainable farming, including organic pest control and soil science.
“We’re really looking forward to growing and expanding,” Reyna says. “We are small, but we’ve worked really hard to keep our farm farming and to keep our organization doing good work in the community. We’re just really proud and honored to be able to serve our community.”