ALBA Organics

Contact Information

Website: http://www.albafarmers.org/index.html

Agriculture and Land Based Training Association (ALBA)
P.O. Box 6264
Salinas, California 93912

Rural Development Center, Salinas (ALBA Headquarters)
Phone: 831-758-1469 Fax: 831-758-3665
Farm Training & Research Center at the Triple M Ranch, Watsonville
Phone: 831-786-8760 Fax: 831-786-8766
ALBA Organics Fresh Produce Sales
Phone: 831-758-5958 Fax: 831-758-5315

Email: You may contact ALBA staff members by e-mail by using addresses as such: <first name>@albafarmers.org

Overview

The Agriculture and Land Based Training Association (ALBA) provides educational and business opportunities for farm workers and aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops grown on two organic farms in Monterey County, California. ALBA is working to assure that it remains a strong engine for economic, community and personal development in the Salinas Valley, particularly among entrepreneurial farm worker families. ALBA has developed a comprehensive program strategy to support long-term goals. The strategy addresses the numerous business needs of both farmers and the additional businesses and community groups with whom they work. In 2002, ALBA established ALBA Organics as a licensed produce distributor to support the sales and sales training needs of ALBA farmers. The on-farm coolers, warehouse, and delivery infrastructure at the ALBA farm near Salinas are major assets for both the farmers and the organization. ALBA Organics connects its customers with the highest-quality product available in season, and offers the opportunity to support small-scale, limited-resource and beginning farmers.

Mission

Our mission is to advance economic viability, social equity and ecological land management among limited-resource and aspiring farmers. We work to create opportunities for family farms while providing education and demonstration on conservation, habitat restoration, and whole farm planning. Our overall goal is to create greater economic opportunities for small farms while promoting ecological land management and healthy local foods. Objectives accomplished in pursuit of this goal include training in organic farm production, marketing, record-keeping, labor law, pest management and numerous other topics related to operating a small farm business.

Audience/Clientele

Family farmers, farm workers, aspiring farmers, consumers, farmers who want to improve their practices, schools, restaurants, and universities of the Monterey Bay region.

Challenges

Our work addresses two sets of challenges: 1) economic opportunity and long-term prosperity for low-income people; and 2) building a resilient organization that sustains opportunities for individuals’ advancement over the long term. We address the ability of low-income people in Monterey County to develop prosperous small farm businesses that help people to invest themselves in the community. People seeking to build business opportunities, especially those with low levels of education, are often challenged by the financial systems that must be established and maintained. We envision a rural economy that generates tangible opportunities for wealth creation through small business development and greater education and understanding of opportunities to invest in the community and generate locally focused commerce.

Product or Project Highlights

Small Farmer Education Program/Programa Educativo para Pequeños Agricultores (PEPA): PEPA provides educational and economic opportunities for limited-resource, aspiring farmers – primarily farm workers. The six-month program, conducted in both Spanish and English, typically enrolls 24-36 aspiring entrepreneurs. Upon completing the course, participants can qualify to enter the award-winning

ALBA Farm Incubator Program: Accessing farmland and equipment starting at 20% of market rate, with gradual increases to 80% of market rate over six years. With access to tractors, equipment and irrigation on a fee basis, 17 beginning farmers operate small farm businesses at ALBA’s 110-acre Rural Development Center near Salinas. An additional eight limited-resource farmers operate diverse farm businesses ALBA’s Farm Training and Research Center at the Triple M Ranch.

Ag Matters Education Program: ALBA works on water quality and soil conservation issues with hundreds of Latino farmers in northern Monterey County, where more than half the farm operators speak Spanish as their first language. ALBA offers educational field days and one-on-one technical assistance to help them manage their farms in ways that minimize impact to local waterways and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

ALBA Organics: ALBA provides in-house produce sales and distribution as an option for the farmers who choose to do so, especially beginners. Customers include Alisal Union School District (where 86.9% of children qualify for free or reduced-price meals), Asilomar Conference Center, Sutter Birthing Center, Dominican Hospital, Stanford University Dining Services, UC Santa Cruz Dining Services, and regional wholesalers and restaurants.

Community Food Systems: ALBA generates opportunities to connect people with the sources of their food – creating tangible experiences that can lead to greater consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Initiatives include conducting a Community Food Assessment to assess markets among regional farm worker communities, developing farmers’ markets, church-based farm stands and collaboration between ALBA farmers and immigrant food entrepreneurs in the Bay Area.

Leadership Development and Civic Engagement: ALBA engages limited-resource farmers in basic civics and policy education, broader networking, and providing testimony to elected officials, where possible. We seek to advance farmers’ understanding of the relevance of public policy to their business and family concerns.

Collaborations

ALBA creates economic opportunities for farm worker families. In addition, we also have essentially every minority farmer in Monterey County in our contact database. Moreover, ALBA has forged partnerships with diverse organizational partners that share a common interest in improving public health through fresh, healthful produce. These partnerships include the Steps to a Healthier Salinas program of the Monterey County Health Department, Clinica de Salud, Healthy Eating Lifestyle Principles (HELP) and groups interested in expanding farmers’ markets such as Oldtown Salinas Association, Oldtown Soledad Beautification Association, and the City of Greenfield. As noted above, the primary constituency is people involved in agriculture – many of whom are seeking to start their own business or advance in their careers. The number of Hispanic or Latino farmers (i.e. farm operators, not necessarily farm owners) in Monterey County increased 70% from 1997 to 2002, according to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture. The constituency is growing rapidly.

Events and Activities

Workshops, conferences, and educational tours occur on an ongoing basis, with most farmer workshops taking place in the winter.

Public Involvement/Volunteer Opportunities

Contributions: The Agriculture and Land Based Training Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and depends upon tax-deductible charitable contributions to maintain and advance our work.
Volunteer work:
Farm Work – Weeding, planting, harvesting (and a little bit of tasting)
Conservation & Land Stewardship – Planting, landscaping, data collection, weeding
Cooler and Warehouse – Produce handling, data collection, cleaning, composting
Communications – Translation and interpretation (Spanish), database management, advertising, design, partnerships, outreach strategies, mailings
Fundraising – Research and writing

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