(Read Love Letters to The Abundant Table here)
Dear Community Member,
The End of an Era
What an incredible fourteen years we have had together at The Abundant Table. So many seasons of life, death, and rebirth that many of you have been a part of directly or indirectly. However, after much discernment and work to find other ways of surviving, The Abundant Table as a nonprofit farm is coming to a close. The Farm Church community, which birthed The Abundant Table Farm, will continue to gather independently as it has for many years. Because we work with the land and have witnessed countless cycles of life, death, rebirth and regeneration in the soil and life we’ve tended, we know that what we have built together does not end, but rather will continue to be reborn in new ways. Our fourteen years of forging connections with each other, with land, and with food will live on; in our memories and hearts, in the land we have cared for, in the people we have nourished and in the lives we have touched. As staff members, current and past, we have all gained many skills and lessons that we will carry with us into our next steps. If you are reading this, your life was likely impacted by The Abundant Table and you’ve experienced the life of The Abundant Table that continues and regenerates through and beyond the farm.
Since 2008 not only have we nourished land and community, we’ve farmed and raised sustainably grown food for our neighbors including hundreds of our CSA members and their families, thousands of Ventura County students receiving free and reduced school lunches, and farmworkers and their families in our Solidarity Shares program. We have nurtured past Abundant Table interns to become leaders in Ventura County Farm to School, educators, writers, and community justice advocates and leaders. We have gathered weekly for an inclusive, spiritual community at Farm Church (which will continue gathering!). We have facilitated a space where staff members, especially farmers, are celebrated. Through it all, we have held land, community and connection at the forefront.
Next Steps and How YOU Can Support
There is much to grieve, lament, and celebrate right now, but we are pouring all our organizational energy and resources into ensuring a smooth, supported transition for our farm staff members and we need the help of each and every one of you. Almost all of our current staff members have been involved with this organization for a decade. They have dedicated their lives and livelihoods to The Abundant Table. While we can never repay them for being the spirit and the labor of this organization, we want to honor them by ensuring that they are equipped with support, time and training as they move forward; and we really need your help to do this.
Almost all of our current farm staff’s labor and time is devoted to our CSA program. Thursday December, 8th is our last day of CSA deliveries. We will continue our Solidarity Shares through January 18th. With no CSA work, our hope is that between the months of January 2023 and March 2023, we can offer our staff members a paid training, exploration, and planning/development period to support them as they transition into this new phase of their lives. Guadalupe, who is our Farm Manager, will be starting his own farm on the three and a half acres he is already tending in Fillmore. He will continue to tend to the land using sustainable practices that respect the land while stepping into this role of leadership as a business owner. Reyna, long time Farm Manager, is looking to develop land-based spirituality and anti-racism programs for faith communities. We want to support Guadalupe, Reyna, Kattya, and Shanti, our staff members, by providing them with this paid time to process and compost the experience and lessons of The Abundant Table into their planning and seeding of the next steps in their journey.
We had planned to have funding to cover their paid transition planning time through March 2023, however, due to lower than projected CSA memberships in the fall, we can only cover payroll through January. Please help us honor the blood, sweat, tears, and love the farm team has poured into the land and community by helping us cover their paid transition planning time through March 2023. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by January 1st, 2023.
If you are a current CSA subscriber with a balance after the last 12/8 delivery, please consider donating your remaining balance instead of receiving a refund to honor and support Guadalupe, Reyna, Kattya, and Shanti, our current farm team staff.
If you are a past CSA member, past or present Abundant Table community member, or your life has been impacted by relationships to land, Reyna or Guadalupe, or community facilitated by The Abundant Table, please consider donating an honorary CSA membership in the amount of $160 (or donate two memberships!) to honor Guadalupe, Reyna, Kattya, and Shanti, our current farm team staff. If 63 of you donate an honorary $160 CSA membership now, we will reach our $10,000 goal by January 1st.
You can make your honorary $160 CSA membership donation online by visiting https://theabundanttable.org/donate/. Or you can make donations by check to The Abundant Table, mailed to PO Box 6295, Ventura, CA 93006.
There is much hard work ahead in this transition to closure. However, with your support we can ensure that beyond the work of ending, Reyna, Guadalupe, Kattya, and Shanti have the time and support to compost and seed the life that comes next for them..
In gratitude,
The Abundant Table Board and Staff