Behind the Bounty Box: Toscano Family Farms
AIM’s pilot episode of our new video series: Behind the Bounty Box gives you an inside look on how AIM curates our newest Program, the Bounty Box - “fresh from the market to curbside”. Bounty Boxes are filled with a seasonal assortment of fruit, herbs, salad fixings, and other veggies from the farmers who participate at AIM’s Marin Civic Center, Grand Lake Oakland, and Clement St – San Francisco farmers markets.
For people who are high-risk or unable to shop the farmers markets, the Bounty Box allows them to access fresh, nutritious foods from the convenience of their own car. Over time, the Bounty Box has grown into an essential source of food for the communities we serve, including the availability of discounted boxes for CalFresh/EBT cardholders (thanks to Bank of America) and hundreds of boxes donated weekly to vulnerable food insecure families through the generosity of the USDA Farmers to Families Program, the Covid-19 Fund of the Marin Community Foundation, the Oakland A’s, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and Ruth Stroup Farmers Insurance.
As Covid-19 first emerged in California and lockdown orders went into place, we knew our community of small farmers and market participants would be impacted. Many small farms lost nearly all their restaurant accounts during the Shelter-in-Place, so the Bounty Box has helped to keep farmers financially sustainable.
Javier Toscano, owner of Toscano Family Farms, is just one of the many AIM Market Participant producers that we source from for the weekly Boxes. In this video, Javier shares his stories from the early days of his farm and how Covid-19 has impacted his business.