Westminster High School’s Giving Farm helps feed the community
At one time, farms were plentiful in Orange County. Today they are not as easy to come by, despite a growing population that needs to be fed. It’s a problem the director of the OC Food Bank, Mark Lowry, has been working to solve since he began his career at Community Action Partnership of Orange County 35 years ago.
“I walked into the food bank for the first time and was so inspired by what they were doing,” Lowry said.
One way Lowry envisioned combatting food insecurity was by growing food right within our communities. With the help of A.G. Kawamura, founder of local nonprofit Solutions For Urban Ag and former secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Lowry searched for a place they could set up an urban farm.
“For 20 years we looked at various properties that might be available for us to farm together,” said Lowry. “For various reasons, none of them worked.”
Then about four years ago, Kawamura was driving down the 405 freeway when he noticed an odd parcel of land. He discovered it was on the side of Westminster High School.
“This high school had an agriculture program, a Future Farmers of America program, one of nine in Orange County,” said Lowry. “And it boasted the largest farm property of any of those FFA programs.”
Over the years agriculture and resources diminished, and the program was down to one teacher.
Geographically, the land was 3 miles from the food bank, and since it had once been a functioning farm, Kawamura and Lowry saw potential. When they contacted school district officials, they learned they were considering a proposal to pave over the whole thing to turn it into RV storage.
“We came along accidentally at the perfect time, and we were able to save that urban farm,” said Lowry.
Kawamura, Lowry and CAP OC worked to prepare the land for farming again, and the school district recommitted to the project. Today, the farm-to-food bank program works to promote student and community engagement in the California agricultural industry and expects to deliver over 200,000 pounds of produce annually to OC Food Bank. Sitting on 8 acres of land, the Giving Farm is the largest remaining public-school farm in Orange County with fields of crops, livestock, aquaponics/hydroponics systems, a greenhouse, shade house, orchard, vertical tower irrigation system and nature center.
“The students renamed it. It had previously been referred to as the Farm,” said Lowry. “But now that we were a partner, and it was clear that fruits and vegetables were going to be grown on that property and donated to us to provide to vulnerable families right here in Orange County, the students renamed it the Giving Farm.”
Enrollment in the program doubled in its first year, 2018, and a second full-time teacher and a part-time farm aide were brought on. Then COVID-19 hit and the momentum slowed. Community volunteers kept the farm going during distance learning.
“But now students are back on campus and everyone is reengaged with the partnership,” said Lowry. “Just this last 12 months we were successful in getting a grant that our staff wrote to introduce beekeeping into the agriculture program here.”
In September, students and volunteers harvested 3,374 pounds of watermelons for people in need.
Lowry was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at CAP OC’s “A Night of Hope” gala on Oct. 2 for his accomplishments over the past 3½ decades that not only include the Giving Farm but bringing the federal Commodity Supplemental Food Program to Orange County in 1991, securing support to launch the OC Diaper Bank in 2022 and advocating for the Child Tax Credit with Rep. Katie Porter.
“Our CEO was quite gracious and said, ‘I know you don’t love awards and don’t do this work for attention, but we think this is important to recognize your 35 years with the food bank,’” said Lowry.
Lowry hopes to continue to help the Giving Farm grow with grant money CAP OC acquired.
“We are buying a bee shed so that they can process the honey, another tractor for the farm, and utilities carts for the farm aides to drive around the farm,” said Lowry.
He also hopes to invest in a barn that can be used to house livestock and serve as a meeting place for students and volunteers.
“Some of the site is still quite rough, especially the livestock area,” said Lowry. “It was built in the 1970s with material that was used in the 1970s … We imagine demolishing all of that and building something that is suitable for the future and will really inspire students. We would love to build a state-of-the-art barn.”
Many things have changed since Lowry began his journey with OC Food Bank, but his desire to help the community by growing the bank has remained.
“I was placed at the interim manager of the food bank, and that was 35 years ago,” said Lowry. “Everything about our world has changed and evolved, and certainly the food bank is dramatically different today than it was then, but I am fortunate to be part of that growth and development.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
