Yolo County has the worst food insecurity issue in California and is one of the most food-insecure counties in the country.
According to the Yolo Food Bank’s Food Access Survey released earlier this year, 40% of Yolo County households with children are food insecure; 20% of households with seniors are food insecure; and 53% of households working in the agricultural industry are food insecure.
“Residents living in the unincorporated areas of Yolo County and the city of Winters report the highest levels of food insecurity at 35.4% than any other city in the country,” the report stressed.
That makes programs like the Center for Land-Based Learning’s Community Food Program and the people who run it critical to addressing this issue. The program created two Mobile Farmers Markets – one in West Sacramento and one in Woodland – to address food insecurity while promoting a sustainable food system.
Susie Sutphin has managed the program since April 2023 and played a significant role in opening the Woodland Mobile Farmers Market this summer.
Prior to that, she founded the Tahoe Food Hub in 2013 after endeavoring on a two-year independent study journey to learn about food systems.
“We are in one definition food insecure in Tahoe because we don’t grow our own food but we have the close proximity, so I was going to take advantage of that,” Sutphin said about the food hub. “It started with five farms and five restaurants and it’s grown to more than 40 to 50 farms and ranches. When we add in all our specialty products… it’s probably 150.”
To learn more about the food hub, visit tahoefoodhub.org.
Sutphin stepped down from her leadership role in 2022 but still wanted to help create food systems to address food insecurity and sustainability issues elsewhere. She found the perfect opportunity to do this when she saw a job opening at the Center for Land-Based Learning to manage the Community Food Program.
She explained that the Mobile Farmers Market component of the job caught her attention because that was something she hoped to do in Tahoe.
“I definitely inherited the program in a lot of ways,” she stressed. “The truck was already purchased, the funding from the city of Woodland and Yolo County was already in place. My job was to come in and bring it over the finish line.
“Mary Kimball and my predecessor, Sara Bernal, were really instrumental.”
Sutphin argued that the Community Food Program is important because it “creates an equitable marketplace” that offers multiple ways to purchase produce including cash, credit cards and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
She also highlighted California’s Market Match program that incentivizes healthy eating by giving SNAP customers 50% off if they shop at farmers markets.
“It’s really powerful,” Suthpin stated. “I can take my $20 in SNAP money and get $20 at Walmart, or I can take that $20 to the farmers market and get $40 worth of food. And that translates to $40 in sales for local farms.”
Additionally, she noted that CommuniCare+OLE offers a Produce RxProgram that provides its diabetes patients with $60 per month to spend on produce at the mobile markets.
“We’re making it affordable and we’re making it convenient by going into the neighborhoods that we’ve identified as having the greatest need,” she emphasized. “Everyone is welcome to come to the market, we just pick locations where there’s a high density of people who don’t have that mobility… whatever the case might be.”
Mary Kimball, CEO for the center, noted that Sutphin “jumped in with both feet right away when she took over the program.”
“Last year, we had only one truck in West Sacramento, and she immediately learned all that she could about the operations of the truck, worked with the farmers as to their availability of product and worked with all of the Community Food Program partners… to continue to improve and evaluate our offerings” she emphasized.
Kimball believes Sutphin is a civic leader because she “has fully engaged herself in the cities and towns of Yolo County” in a short period of time living here.
“There are people who’ve lived here their entire lives and don’t even know where Knights Landing is,” she remarked. “Susie has shown that she cares deeply about the people and families that make up Yolo County and already knows more about the needs of all residents in terms of food access and is taking a leadership role in changing the health outcomes of our county residents.”
Sri Sethuratnam, director of the center’s California Academy, added that Suthpin “is a strong proponent of a resilient local food system and believes that local farmers should be an integral part of this food system.”
“All her efforts at the Tahoe Food Hub and now in the Community Food Program have been to connect farmers to local communities,” he continued. “Her efforts will serve Yolo farmers and communities for many years to come.”
Sardar Safi, community health leader with the Health Education Council, explained that his organization provides volunteers and promotes the truck to the housing developments they support. Safi, along with his colleagues, provides cultural awareness and translation for Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Spanish and Russian-speaking communities.
“She’s very friendly with everybody and talks with everyone,” Safi said of Sutphin. “She’s a community leader providing health and makes people feel like she’s a family member. She’s providing a good facility in the community.”
Michelle Times used to be an ambassador for the program when the West Sacramento Mobile Farmers Market opened in 2021. Since then, she has been benefitting from the program and has seen the effect the mobile markets have had on her community living at the Washington Courtyard Apartments in West Sacramento, one of the market’s stops.
“It’s been very impactful,” she stressed. “It’s a big help for the community because a lot of people don’t have transportation. It has already benefitted us because a lot of people shop here.”
She noted that residents in her apartment complex, including herself, are aware of “when [the mobile market] is coming and when it’s leaving.”
Ketana Jones, owner of creativemadnezzkitchen and a former ambassador for the program, highlighted the work the mobile farmers market does to ensure community members remain healthy. Jones explained that that her son has diabetes and she received a lot of support from Sutphin and her predecessor, Bernal, who helped get Jones involved in the Sacramento area’s Alchemist organization.
“Them just teaming up as leaders of the food industry change the dynamics of what you need in your body and what you can get for not a lot,” Jones said regarding Bernal and Sutphin. “I’m excited by their journey of wanting to make sure that people get healthy options in foods and groceries for your health.”
To learn more about the Community Food Program and to see a schedule for the Mobile Farmers Market, visit landbasedlearning.org/followthetomato.
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The Yolo County Civic Leader of the Month Series was inspired by longtime Yolo County leader Gary Sandy, who passed away in August 2023 after a year-long battle with liver cancer.
Sandy served in many leadership roles since 1996 including in the Woodland City Council, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and the Yuba Community College Board.
The outpouring of reflections and heartfelt comments from local leaders led The Daily Democrat to honor Sandy’s hard work by highlighting others who are making changes with a positive impact on our community.
If you have any recommendations for future Civic Leaders of the Month, email [email protected] with a proposal leaving the person’s name, contact information and 3-4 sentences explaining why they deserve the title.
