Diverse Jewish Access Point: Coastal Roots Farm
Coastal Roots Farm
https://coastalrootsfarm.org
Coastal Roots Farm is a nonprofit Jewish community farm and education center which cultivates healthy, connected communities by integrating sustainable agriculture, food justice, and ancient Jewish wisdom. The Farm donates thousands of pounds of organic produce each year into the charitable food system, helping those who need it most. Food is distributed through the Farm’s on-site, pay-what-you-can Farm Stand, pop-up mobile farm stands, and direct donations to local hunger relief organizations. Community members are connected to the land and compelling Jewish ideas and traditions through a variety of hands-on educational experiences, including School and Group Visits, Farm Camp, Farm Tours, Volunteer Opportunities, and Jewish Agricultural Festivals. Coastal Roots Farm is located on approximately 17 acres of land at Leichtag Commons, consisting of vegetable production fields, an education farm and gardens, a food forest, chickens, and compost operations.
Stacie and Jeff Cook understand commitment. They live it.
Black, Jewish and Queer. These three identities weave the fabric of who I am, but it took a long time to believe that they could exist together.
Lee and Toni Leichtag established the Leichtag Foundation in 1991 following the sale of their business. Lee and Toni were lifelong entrepreneurs with a passion for innovation and for supporting talent. They believed that only with big risk comes big reward. Both born to families in poverty, Toni to a single mother, they strongly believed in helping those most in need and most vulnerable in our community. While they supported many causes, their strongest support was for young children and the elderly, two demographics who particularly lack voice in our society.
Lifelong Baltimoreans, Rabbi George and Alison Wielechowski and their sons, 11-year-old Lennon and 9-year-old Gideon, are more than pursuing the good life in Southern California. Having moved to San Diego more than three years ago, they are fulfilling a lifelong dream.
You would think that as the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, Fernando Zweifach López Jr., who uses the pronoun they, has done all the coming out they possibly can. A queer, non-binary individual who has worked for many years on civil rights issues, López also speaks openly and often about their father’s family, Mexican-American migrant workers who tilled the fields of rural California.