The Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $4.6 million to support a 90-acre expansion of Dig Deep Farms at Ardenwood Historic Farm and a 10-acre expansion at the Masonic Homes of California. The funds will be used to support living wage jobs and to fund equipment, fencing, soil preparation, irrigation, and other infrastructure necessary to facilitate the Dig Deep Farms expansion.
The Dig Deep Farms expansion marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Community Capitals Policing. A social enterprise founded by DSAL and ACSO - Dig Deep Farms provides living wage jobs for people on probation, internships for justice-involved youth, and nutritious food for ALL IN Alameda County’s Recipe 4 Health (food-as-medicine) program. The investment is also critical to ALL IN Eats, an effort spearheaded by Supervisor Wilma Chan to alleviate food insecurity by providing residents with healthy, affordable food that is sourced from local farms, recovered food, and small food vendors to build a self-regenerating, circular food system.
We are grateful to the Board of Supervisors and to all of the partners who have helped us reach this milestone. The interagency collaboration supporting this effort maximizes efficiency and reduces overlap, which is one of the key outcomes of systems change.
“The impact of poverty and neglect on the communities we serve are deeply entrenched,” said Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern.
“People experience severe stress when they don’t have access to jobs, healthy food, and safe places to work and play. Dig Deep Farms is a cornerstone of our Community Capitals Policing model, which is improving public safety through strategic, multi-pronged investments that create pathways for people to thrive.”
“The expansion of Dig Deep Farms at Ardenwood Historic Farm and Masonic Homes of California has been a long time in the making, and we are grateful to the Board of Supervisors for this significant investment,” said Alameda County Sheriff’s Captain Martin Neideffer.
“The East Bay Regional Park District’s decision earlier this year to sign a 5-year lease with Dig Deep Farms to farm at Ardenwood signals an embrace of sustainable, organic farming methods at this important historic site,” said Neideffer.
“Dig Deep Farms is at the forefront of the emerging field of permaculture, which relies on closed loop farming practices to minimize waste and maximize nutrient density of the soil and produce.
These regenerative, certified organic farming practices work harmoniously with the land, maximizing nutrients in the soil and the produce, which will be used as medicine for thousands of county residents experiencing preventable and treatable diet-related conditions without traditional pharmaceuticals.”