Full Belly Farm

Full Belly Farm • Comments »

“Do you know where your food comes from?” If a nopa guest had posed this question to me a few weeks ago, I would have answered an enthusiastic, confident “yes.” As a server at nopa, I can tell you where we get our blood oranges in the winter and our tomatoes in the summer. I know what our pigs eat and how our chickens are raised. Of course I know where our food comes from! A recent trip to Full Belly Farm, however, encouraged me to look at this question a little differently. Before our visit to the farm, my knowledge of Full Belly was hardly exhaustive. I knew who owns the farm, that it is located in Guinda, CA, and that they provide us (and in turn, thousands of San Francisco diners) with incredibly delicious produce. But had I ever met the farmers? Could I tell you where exactly Guinda is? And in all honesty, did I know how artichokes or fennel grew before they were harvested and transported to local farmers’ markets? I did not. Thankfully however, my answers to these questions changed by the end of the day.

On the morning of March 10, fourteen of my fellow nopa coworkers and I piled into a 15-person van and headed 100 miles northeast of San Francisco to County Road 43 in the small, rural town of Guinda. Once we arrived, we were welcomed by Hallie, the daughter of owners Dru Rivers and Paul Muller, as well as fellow farm owner, Judith Redmond. Certified organic since 1985, this 300 acre farm is owned by the aforementioned three, as well as Andre Brait. Approximately 50 employees work year-round to harvest over 80 different crops of fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and flowers. The farm is also home to chickens, cows, sheep, and lambs.

After providing us with the farm’s history, Hallie and Judith led us on a tour of their breathtaking property. We gathered freshly laid eggs from their chickens, harvested kale and green garlic, and dug asparagus from the ground. We tasted fresh fennel, cut artichokes from their stalks and saw heirloom tomato seeds growing in their greenhouse. We learned about their use of cover crops and that the farm relies predominantly on solar energy to power their operations.

Our incredible day culminated in a home-cooked meal of epic proportions. And for me, it was then, as I sat down to dinner, surrounded by my nopa family and the awe-inspiring Full Belly family, that the beauty of the day truly began to sink in. Here I was, enjoying a feast that had come from right outside the kitchen door. Everything, from the lamb and potatoes, to the kale and artichokes, came directly from this farm. Even the rosé that we shared was the result of a one-time winemaking venture a few years back. This meal was not produced from a box, a mix, or a grocery store. It was made from the land, with the hands of the farmers. And everyone gathered around the table that night knew exactly where their food was coming from. We had witnessed the animals grazing in the fields and had even harvested some of the produce ourselves. And that is a truly incomparable feeling.

So in the future, when a guest asks me if I know where my food comes from, my answer will be different. Now I will simply respond, “I’m learning.”