Meet OGC Mission Fund Recipient: Viva Farms

Located in the beautiful Skagit Valley, a nonprofit called “Viva Farms” is on a mission to empower aspiring and limited-resource farmers by providing bilingual training in holistic organic farming practices, as well as access to land, infrastructure, equipment, marketing and capital.

 The organization was founded in 2009 to help Latino farm workers who had production experience but couldn’t see a pathway to ownership. Viva Farms provides many resources to create the right environment for people to launch and scale a farm in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, Viva Farm graduates are one of OGC’s suppliers of a springtime favorite, Purple Sprouting broccoli and other row crops.

 To support Viva’s work, OGC awarded the organization a Mission Fund grant in 2022 for their Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture. This eight-month curriculum takes students through a full farming season together on an on-site farm. Students learn everything from crop selection to filing taxes.

 “It’s inspiring to have a partner that helps us help our farmers – not only move their product and tell the stories but also financially supports the work directly,” said Michael Frazier, executive director of Viva Farms. “We’re a small team, trying to lift a heavy load. To have partners see, understand and support the work in the way that OGC does is essential.”

Viva Farms is just one of the many organizations OGC’s Mission Fund supported in 2022. Find a list of all our recent grant recipients at https://www.organicgrown.com/blog/2022missionfundgiving.