California farmers of color need more support during the pandemic. Can private efforts help?

WHEN CECILIA CENGIZ drove from Oakland down to Salinas, California, she began to doubt whether the 50 boxes of kale and zucchini, along with the 10 others she was set to pick up from a farm in Pescadero, would fit in her rental van. It was only her first time driving down to the central coast to buy produce from farmers of color who lost their accounts to wholesale distributors at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, but it was clear that she would have to figure out a way to keep up with the supply.

“Basically, what we have created is a small food hub,” said Cengiz, the daughter of Mexican immigrant farmworkers who started the aggregating and distributing brand Yeyi Organics in April. “I like helping the farmers, and they work well with me. As soon as I take the produce, I pay them in cash. And they really like that.” The up-front payments and personal relationship with Cengiz is a welcome change to many farmers of color who are accustomed to sending their produce to nearby aggregators and getting paid weeks later.