Community Food Bank outlines school-garden expansion, $400K Sombra mesquite project with Sunnyside students

Brandon Merchant, presenting for the Community Food Bank’s farm‑to‑school program (speaker 4), told the Sunnyside board the program now works with 15 district schools and pairs garden work with classroom curriculum to teach environmental justice and food‑security topics.

Merchant described funding sources that have expanded programming: earlier seed grants and $2,000 USDA awards for teachers, thriving-communities grants (one cited at $60,000 for Sunnyside High School staff), and a recently awarded $400,000 grant through the Inflation Reduction Act to support the Sombra Project (Sonoran Mesquite Barrio Restoration Alliance). He said Desert View High School will host the nursery and students will learn nursery management and distribution; planted trees will go into neighborhoods identified as heat‑vulnerable — “3 of those are within the Sunnyside District,” he said — and the project is intended to build biodiversity and food-producing resources while giving students work skills.

Merchant said district garden sites use campus water sources (hose faucets or installed irrigation), avoid reclaimed water for edible gardens where possible, and rely on a mix of school infrastructure and community volunteers or summer stipends to maintain gardens between school years. He reported the farm‑to‑school program helped Desert View expand its agriculture program (greenhouses, chicken coop, nursery production) and that students participated in building pollinator gardens and other hands‑on projects.

Board members asked about partnerships, summer continuity and whether the mesquite seedlings are native. Merchant said the seed stock is native velvet mesquite sourced via a university seed bank; he emphasized efforts to avoid nonnative Chilean mesquite. He also described opportunities for students to sell or distribute plants at farmer’s markets but said student teams would decide distribution approaches.

What’s next: District staff and the Community Food Bank expect to continue expanding garden programming districtwide; the Sombra Project will move into nursery production and student-run distribution pending implementation planning.