The Bucket Brigade Academy (BBA) is a leadership training program for high school students interested…
Humanitarian Farm
Growing food, training leaders and building local resilience.
With help from over 430 volunteers, the Bucket Brigade has restored a 1-acre urban farm that had been fallow for 7 years. The transformation of this land is creating real impact. In 2024, 17,392 pounds of food was grown, harvested and donated to Veggie Rescue, Unity Shoppe, and the SBCC Food Pantry.
The Bucket Brigade Humanitarian Farm is more than a restoration. The farm serves as a leadership training ground and a part of the Bucket Brigade’s real-world resilience laboratory. Youth leaders and community volunteers are working together to increase food security and build local resilience.
Community Resilience
The Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade was founded to organize, train and deploy community volunteers in response to crisis. Our goal: Build grassroots local resilience by dramatically enhancing the community’s ability to cooperate in a crisis. Food security is a fundamental pillar of community resilience. To help fight hunger, we will work together with volunteers and our community partners to grow and share food with hungry neighbors.
A National Tradition
During the First and Second World Wars, victory gardens on private property and public parklands provided fresh fruits and vegetables to citizens during wartime rationing. In 1943, 40% of the nation’s fresh vegetables were grown in victory gardens. These gardens didn’t just feed hungry people, they also boosted morale and community spirit by connecting individual gardeners to a bigger cause.
Humanitarian Farming for Challenging Times
We are growing fresh, organic produce at our urban farm and donating it to neighbors in need.
In 2024, we restored the last arable piece of the original Yankee Farm on the Mesa. It had been fallow for over seven years. Over the next 12 months, Tom Shepherd, Steven Hanson and the Bucket Brigade youth leaders grew, packed and delivered 17,392 lbs. of food to local food aid partners. This year, we are going to grow and share even more food, engage more volunteers and train another generation youth leaders.
Wisdom Of Our Elders
For hundreds of years, agriculture has been a key part of Santa Barbara’s cultural and economic fabric. Our original organic farmers are slowly retiring and they have generational wisdom that needs to be passed on to the next generation of farmers. We have created a place where veteran farmers can teach the next generation here in Santa Barbara.
Engage The Youth
As the pandemic took hold and people started stepping up to help those in need, we noticed that young people were eager, apt, and innovative. Spontaneous youth resilience groups like Zoomers to Boomers and Teen Glean have inspired young people to connect, align and engage. Our Bucket Brigade Growing Community Project provides another safe, family friendly way to help. The BBGC also provides a clear path for teens to learn and earn community-service hours during the global crisis and distance learning isolation.
Make A Difference Now
Our Growing Community Project is a great way to get outside and to safely connect with other caring community members, especially for people who may have been self-isolating during the pandemic. Even from the safety of your own backyard, you become an important part of a community volunteer deployment to help build food resilience across all of Santa Barbara County. Join us today!
The Benefits of Humanitarian Gardening
- Develop fundamental farming and gardening skills, such as seed propagation, transplanting, composting, landscaping, construction, and maintenance
- Build practical understanding of the food system’s connection to soil health, the natural world, culture, and your neighbors in Santa Barbara County
- Improve physical health with nutritious food and moderate outdoor exercise
- Enhance social and emotional health by working in a calm and safe environment with positive social interactions
- Make a difference in local public health by improving the diets of our most vulnerable community members
- Expand the use of community gardens and encourage the construction of permagardens and food forests on private property and public spaces to build local food resilience
- Ensure the continuity and development of local farming and gardening wisdom
- Get away from your computer and go outside with a purpose! We all need a little more quality time away from screens these days. Get out in the garden!
“How can Santa Barbara County ever become resilient when one out of every four families doesn’t get enough to eat? It’s time to stop talking and to start growing!”
– Abe Powell, Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade
Co-founder/CEO
“Winning is only possible if we win together.”
– Thomas C. Parker
President, Hutton Parker Foundation
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