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Grantee Highlight

Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs' Activities League (DSAL)

  • Dig Deep Farm
    DSAL hopes to bring back “food farmacy” produce stands like this one to clinics and events once pandemic restrictions are lifted.
  • DSAL Officers help with food giveaway
    Officers are helping out during DSAL’s Friday food giveaway drive-through events, loading up leftovers to deliver to people in need.
  • Dig Deep Farm farmers
    Two of the farmers at Dig Deep Farms who run the work reentry program overseeing and training interns.

Food Rescue and Job Training: The Food Hub at Dig Deep Farms

Rescuing surplus edible food to feed people reduces waste and helps address food insecurity in the short term. But building a job training program into the process can do so much more because it addresses the underlying issues of poverty. “If people have money in their pockets, they won’t be food insecure,” says Hilary Bass, a senior program specialist for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office whose role is to oversee the non-profit Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League (DSAL). Among other programs, DSAL works closely with the Probation Department and their community-based partner organizations to offer workforce re-entry trainings for people with criminal justice system experience.  

In 2019, DSAL received a $20,000 food waste prevention grant from StopWaste to support their food rescue work at Dig Deep Farms located in the communities of Ashland, Cherryland and unincorporated San Leandro. Here, paid trainees grow highly nutrient-dense fresh fruits and vegetables, while learning job skills and earning certificates in permaculture and urban farming. Others work at the adjacent Food Hub as food recovery drivers, picking up surplus food in refrigerated vans from farmers markets, schools and other organizations. They then sort and process the recovered food and—along with the farm’s harvest—package them for redistribution to food-insecure local residents, including home-bound seniors and others in need. 

Dig Deep Farms works with partner organizations to expand their food recovery and redistribution efforts. One such partnership is with community health clinics where patients who are struggling with food insecurity, social isolation and other risk factors, receive “food as medicine” prescription vouchers, redeemable for fresh produce and healthy staples at Dig Deep’s clinic-based “Food Farmacy” farm stands.

DSAL’s long-term vision is to build a regional network that supports a sustainable food economy and equitable access to nutritious food. Ultimately our goal is to create a local, circular food system for all people in Alameda County,” said Bass.

To learn more about DSAL and Dig Deep Farms click here. For more information about StopWaste’s grants program and opportunities, click here.  
 

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