Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., Centro del Pueblo and Cooperation Humboldt will be holding a ceremony to consecrate the Arcata Community Health and Wellness Garden (11th and F streets) as a sanctuary for all people. 

The ceremony will feature music, food for those experiencing food insecurity, a land acknowledgement and the "ceremonial planting of seeds important to the Mixtec people."

Centro del Pueblo has created a gardening program called "Comida del Pueblo" which aims to empower the county's Latinx community to learn and share their gardening knowledge and reconnect with their Indigenous roots. 

Both Cooperation Humboldt and CDP have recently taken stewardship of the community garden and are now "caring for the wonderful native plants, fruit trees, herbs, and perennials that Open Door Community Health Centers planted during the years that they tended the garden."

Read the full Cooperation Humboldt press release below.

EUREKA, CA (Mar. 23, 2021) – On Saturday, March 27 at 1:30 p.m. Centro del Pueblo and Cooperation Humboldt will consecrate the Arcata Community Health and Wellness Garden on the corner of 11th and F Streets as a Sanctuary for all people. There will be music, food for people experiencing food insecurity, a land acknowledgement, and the ceremonial planting of seeds important to the Mixtec people. Masks and physical distancing are required.

Cooperation Humboldt and Centro del Pueblo recently began stewardship of the Community Garden. They are now caring for the wonderful native plants, fruit trees, herbs, and perennials that Open Door Community Health Centers planted during the years that they tended the garden. They strive to create a space of learning, empowerment, nutrition, and regeneration. The garden is located on unceded ancestral Wiyot territory, on property owned and generously leased to Open Door at an affordable rate by the Arcata Presbyterian Church. Pastor Dan Link is a strong advocate for care and compassion for everyone in our community.

According to Cooperation Humboldt Food Team Anchor Tamara McFarland, “Cooperation Humboldt believes that access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food is a human right. We work to create a world where no one will ever go hungry due to lack of wealth or income. Growing public food in common space is an important step toward our goal to return Humboldt County to the regenerative, life-sustaining food forest and ecological haven that it once was.”

Cooperation Humboldt seeks to empower residents with the material, resources, skills and knowledge they need to grow more of their own food. They create structures for resource sharing, cultivate strong partnerships with others working for food sovereignty. They strive to shift community consciousness around food, from seeing it as a commodity to treating it as a fundamental human right.

In early Spring 2020, as the pandemic struck, Cooperation Humboldt realized the need to shift their efforts quickly to get food resources to those who needed them the most. This led to the launch of their Mini Gardens project, and within six months they delivered and installed 260 complete small garden setups to low-income residents. This project teaches participants to grow more of their own food and to share their new skills with friends and family. This year, their goal is to deliver and install at least 520 more mini gardens.

Anyone can donate nonperishable food or personal care items to Cooperation Humboldt’s network of 25 Little Free Pantries in Arcata and Eureka, and anyone can take what they need, 24 hours a day. Their impact has gone far beyond charity by strengthening relationships among neighbors, challenging assumptions about who gives and who takes, and exploring what it means to be in community with one another. This year, they plan to Install at least 10 more Pantries.

For the past three winters, Cooperation Humboldt has planted free fruit trees in public locations in partnership with community members and organizations willing to make the fruit available to anyone who wants some. This spring, they have already planted more than 100 public fruit trees.

For more information contact:
Tobin McKee - Cooperation Humboldt Program Administrator
(707) 407-7300
[email protected]
Tamara McFarland - Cooperation Humboldt Food Team Anchor
(707) 599-2951
[email protected]
Karina Coronado - Centro del Puelo
(707) 683-5293
[email protected]
Brenda Perez - Centro del Pueblo
(707) 683-5293
[email protected]
Pastor Dan Link - Arcata Presbyterian Church
360-969-6564
[email protected]