Farm Stand On A Mission

Tree Rub at the Free Farm Stand.

TREE RUB, who lives in San Francisco, has been involved with community food programs and gardening for more than 20 years. He founded the FREE FARM STAND to distribute fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to those who earn low incomes or who survive on tight budgets. Tree explains, "Free Farm Stand was born with the idea of sharing the wealth of urban farms and gardens. I thought let's grow food, get our neighbors growing food, and share the surplus with those in need." The Stand also provides education to participants regarding the connection between good nutrition and health, as well as how to plant and maintain gardens. The group is entirely run by volunteers.



Basically, the site on which the Stand is located serves as a gathering place and clearing house, besides collecting and distributing excess food from community gardens, neighborhood gardens, food markets, and local privately owned fruit trees. Tree also grows his own foodstuffs, as much as he can, with the output also distributed by Free Farm Stand.

A combination of local nonprofits come together at the gathering place, which is located on a 1/3 acre lot owned by ST. PAULUS LUTHERAN CHURCH. That is also where Tree Rub maintains his farm, where he grows and gives away more than 1,000 pounds of food in a six-month period. PRODUCE TO THE PEOPLE, another nonprofit, harvests organic fruit from private and public property and shares it with Free Fruit Stand.

Free seedlings available from Free Farm Stand.

In addition, the group has provided workshops on gardening and urban farming, and invited community, religious and school groups to this friendly gathering place. As Tree states, "We take steps towards rebuilding communities by bringing people back into the commons for the Free Food Stand, creating space for communities to talk, learn, and work together at the Free Farm and other gardens." By the way, it is Tree's labor at some of the local farms, that leads to hundreds of pounds of food being added to the provisions offered at Free Food Stand. Tree lives and works his own dream, with the help of volunteers, of raising and distributing nature's bounty to those in need.

Some produce ready for transport back to Free Farm Stand.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/tree-free-farm-stand/; and the above links.

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