Found Treasure: Everyone’s Harvest

September 27, 2024 – I was standing on the lush lawns of Laguna Grande Park, fresh off a meal of pupusas, falafel and tacos dorados, picking out the most glorious heirloom cherry tomatoes and multicolored carrots from a certified organic farm stand, gazing across the lake as migratory birds performed splash landings, when the gratitude hit me like a linebacker: This is incredible, and so easy to take for granted. 

So let’s make sure we don’t.

Yesterday afternoon Everyone’s Harvest celebrated 21 years of existence with a Seaside Sips & Celebrations. 

At the grassy center of its Seaside Farmers Market—which is now into its 15th month, and thriving with its balance of prepped foods, fresh produce and cooking demos—a special pavilion hosted a gourmet gauntlet while a DJ spun dance music. 

Partners who support EH’s mission provided the flavorful fuel, and represent regular participants at the market and a power pack of Found Treasures: Antojitos Mexicanos TS, Ely’s Pupusas, Mr. Falafel, and Make It Dulce.

There were also beverages from additional sponsors like Alvarado Street Brewery, Other Brother Beer Company, Bernardus, Scheid, Silvestri and Twisted Roots. 

Everyone’s Harvest leadership joined the throng, and helped provide perspective on what makes the organization special. 

Longtime Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado—who served as EH’s treasurer from the beginning—emphasized fundamentals that, keeping with the theme, are easy to take for granted: To be certified vendors, farmers must grow what they sell.

“You can trust where it’s coming from,” Delgado says. “And most are certified organic, so you can trust they grew without pesticides.”

EH board president and Blue Zones Food Policy Lead Genevieve LeBlanc also underlined core priorities, namely undiluted interaction and access for those who need it most. 

“It means everything for a farmer to have direct access to customers,” she says, “and the main differentiator for [Everyone’s Harvest] is that we’re a nonprofit so everything goes back into our community support like Market Match, Double Up, Fresh Rx and edible education.”

A quick review there: Market Match trampolines the purchasing power of low-income individuals by matching their federal nutrition assistance (such as SNAP or EBT) when they shop at participating farmers markets; if someone spends $10 of their benefits, Market Match dishes an additional 10 spot in tokens or vouchers, enabling the person to buy $20 worth of fresh produce, extending nutrition for families and economic growth for local ag.

Double Up Food Bucks works in similar fashion, as Edible detailed when it debuted locally last fall.

Fresh Rx reduces healthcare costs, improves overall wellness, and empowers health care pros to improve patient diets, as we explored with “Doctor’s Orders: Produce prescriptions are preventing disease and saving local lives.”

And the education finds life through regular instructional tastings like yesterday’s double combo: Lisa Clark of Platter Perfection assembled charcuterie-tomato-mozzarella-basil skewers, and Chef Brandon Miller styled out his vegetarian paella using farm-fresh ingredients.

EH Executive Director Hester Parker riffed on similar themes, highlighting the close relationship with health care providers. On top of hosting markets at  Natividad and Salinas Valley Health hospitals, she’s thrilled to see Fresh Rx demonstrating measurable outcomes, and to see the Farms Together new produce box program gain momentum—and a two-year extension.

“More and more patients are healthier all the time,” she said, “and the produce box program has already brought out a lot of people to the markets!”

Parker and LeBlanc took to the microphone briefly to thank the many community collaborators, honor National Hispanic Heritage Month and provide a brief injection of history. What started as a Cal State Monterey Bay capstone for founding executive director Iris Peppard is now a two decade tradition with a family of markets across the county (look below for the list).

“This is not just a farmers market,” Parker said. “Our programs [provide] more equitable access to food and vegetables.”

“Now that Everyone’s Harvest is 21,” LeBlanc added, “we’re old enough to go anywhere we want.” 

She’s having some fun with EH reaching legal drinking age. In all seriousness, she’s among many who hope this type of farm- and community-centric obsession does spread indefinitely.

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Final closing notes: Every issue of Edible Monterey Bay includes a comprehensive map of the tri-county farmers markets, and a deep rundown of what’s in season.

Everyone’s Harvest markets make up a sizable portion of the foodie havens, and include the following weekly installments: