Growing In Line With Food not Bombs
Zach Cannady is the driving force behind Prema Farm, overseeing a small organic farm in Long Valley just twenty minutes north of Reno.
Along with four employees, he cultivates just over an acre of farmland along with three greenhouses. He estimates his team produce senough food to feed 600 to 800 families in the summer. “I hope to be a hub for inspiration,” Cannady said on a recent Fall day, inside one of his 3,000 square feet greenhouses filled with several hundred seedlings, almost ready to go into the ground for the winter growing season.
As a pillar of the community, Cannady has been donating food to a local chapter of Food Not Bombs since early April. Food Not Bombs is a group of community members using direct action to build community networks and civilian solidarity through the preparation and donation of nutritious food.
Cannady feels the mission of Food Not Bombs aligns with the driving philosophy of Prema Farms.
“I think that working with them as people and just seeing them in action does a wonderful amount of good. It's really about getting food directly to people that need it and that's why we choose to work with them,” Cannady said. Connecting local food to people in poverty has the potential to make a huge impact. Prema Farm, knowing this, began taking donations online to improve the diversity and amount of donations.
In the beginning Cannady donated extra seedlings which went to people in need. Soon it became boxes of freshly grown produce. Cannady realized that not everyone has a taste for kale or garlic and began to look for ways to bring in other food.
Through the donated funds, Prema Farm is now able to “purchase certified organic, small farm vegetables through a produce retailer,” he explained. Things like avocados, peaches, and plums, which help boost the nutrition of the food prepared by Food Not Bombs. These wholesome foods help get people facing poverty vital nutrients and support local farms at the same time.
“It really is a perfect scenario and a win-win,” he said.
Prema Farm is a regenerative organic farm growing food year round located just north of Reno.
The Importance of Healthy Food
“You see a total dysfunction mentally and physically and emotionally …” Cannady talks about how chemicals used in food production affects our bodies. He acknowledges that this food is the “easiest to get to homeless people [along with] the by-products of large chemical agriculture.” He sees his work as a way to get organic food to those most in need and the "desire for local food and local produce” as a motivator to continue donating to Food Not Bombs.
Cannady wants to do more but knows it is not easy. He sees his farm as an educational farm. He hopes to teach other farmers how to grow food in the high desert and in turn increase the amount of local food available here in Reno.
“I hope that in the next year I could relinquish some of my selfishness and just continue to see things in a bigger picture and do things that would be the best for our community,” says Cannady.
He plans to continue the relationship with Food Not Bombs and continue donating food from the farm. Most of all Cannady wants Prema Farm to “give back as much as we can.”
For paying customers, the produce he grows will be sold starting October 9th on Saturdays from nine to noon at 925 Riverside Drive in downtown Reno.