First Light Farm, located near Petaluma, began partnering with congregations in 2013, delivering CSA boxes weekly to their places of worship. Through attending the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative’s first conference, farmers Jesse Pizzitola and Lisa Murgatroyd were motivated to build relationships with faith groups in the area and have embraced this fully by working with North Bay Islamic Center, San Rafael United Methodist Church, and Congregation Kol Shofar.
Farmer Lisa shares, “We believe our interests as farmers and people of faith are deeply aligned. We’re dedicated to stewarding Creation. We want to nurture a society that honors the gifts of God. We want generations to come to be healthy because they’ve been fed by the verdant land, water, food, and their soul inspired by the wonders of nature, a reflection of the Creator’s grace. We are motivated by nourishing people. We believe that food grown with intention fuels the will as people are called to grow into their highest selves, serve their community, and share the light of God with each other. As people of faith who need sustenance, we see great possibility in coming together through food and farming, one community united in spiritual purpose and fellowship.”
First Light Farm is a certified organic farm by Marin Organic Certified Agriculture. However, their farming practices go far beyond this certification:
- hey plant both winter and spring cover crops to build soil fertility, improve soil structure, soil life and add organic matter.
- They apply organic compost that feeds diverse life in the soil.
- They build biodynamic compost and spray biodynamic preparations created out of natural and organic substances which are used to enhance and regulate plant growth, soil life and farm metabolism.
- They practice careful crop rotations so that the nutritional demands of crops do not over-tax soil nutrients and pest/disease pressure is minimized.
- They utilize the ancient practice of dry-farming at their Valley Ford operation.
irst Light Farm established CSAs with the Islamic Center of North Marin in June 2013, San Rafael United Methodist Church in June 2014, and Congregation Kol Shofar in September 2014. At this point they have about 6-10 CSA subscriptions with each congregation with the hope of expanding. They have applied to receive CalFresh benefits for their CSAs and farmstand, and plan to add that benefit to the congregations’ CSA programs. The San Rafael United Methodist Church has a headstart school on their grounds, and the farm donates a weekly box to the school.
Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative is engaging with 10 local farms, like First Light Farm, with CSA programs that have expressed interest in working with congregations. If your congregation is interested establishing a CSA project, we can work with you to develop a partnership with one of these farms.
