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The North Coast Food System Network is an initiative to increase connectivity and collaboration between the North Coast region through investments into infrastructure and capacity building
The North Coast Food System Network will help fill gaps in critical food infrastructure, workforce development, and connection to resources of the North Coast region's agriculture and fishing industries. Using funding from CA Jobs First Catalyst Fund, NCGA will coordinate this Network of community owned and operated businesses that will improve the access residents of our region have to locally grown, raised, and caught food.
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Our Projects and Partners
Del Norte and Tribal Lands Gather and Grow Food Hub
Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council (DNATL CFC) is leading the North Coast Food System Network’s Del Norte–Tribal Lands expansion through the development of the Gather & Grow Food Hub and a regionally connected Resiliency Cold Node Project. With support from $350,000 in California Jobs First funding and over $2 million in leveraged local and state resources, DNATL CFC is advancing a 15,000-square-foot food hub toward shovel-ready status. The hub will serve as a cornerstone for food aggregation, processing, education, and access in Del Norte County—offering cold and dry storage, commercial and teaching kitchens, a retail market, and dedicated space for Tribal and community food programs. The associated Cold Node Project will install strategically located cold storage units to support local farmers, emergency response, and equitable food distribution across the county. These initiatives strengthen regional food sovereignty, build climate resilience, and extend the reach of the North Coast Food System Network into historically underserved communities.
Studying the Feasibility of a Meat Processing Facility
After the closure and restructuring of Redwood Meat Company, regional ranchers have implemented expensive pivots to continue their operations. This includes traveling over 250 extra miles to processing facilities, which has lead to an increase of up to $6/lb for locally raised meats.
Resilience Nodes
Currently, the Harvest Hub has improved cold storage for locally grown and raised foods, but is located along the coast in Arcata while most farms are located in remote areas of the county. These nodes will provide accessible cold storage for farmers and buyers, like schools, in remote areas of the region. This will allow smaller farms to increase sales through the Harvest Hub. These nodes will also be able to be used during emergency and disaster situations to collect and store food for the community, and can e used by emergency feeding entities who operate shelters and feeding sites.
Humboldt Dockside Market and Microprocessing Needs
Local fishermen face numerous challenges to directly marketing their catch. Currently, the only way for fishing vessels to sell their catch directly to consumers is off their boats on Woodley Island, which is not accessible to ADA customers or by public transportation. Additionally, the recent closure of Pacific Choice has limited the processing and buying services available for fishermen. This project will increase direct sales opportunities through the Dockside Market, while outlining gaps in processing infrastructure and systems. These gaps including cold storage, distribution for local catch, and processing for local seafood. Many of these gaps overlap with those of the agricultural system, so shared use infrastructure solutions will be explored between the Working Lands and Blue Economy sectors.
Aquilli Metzli Masa Cooperative
Led by community members, this Indigenous and Latinx led cooperative is implementing milpa growing practices on farms throughout Humboldt County that cultivate culturally appropriate foods. A variety of maize is currently being trialed in different microclimates to track outputs, and will be processed by the cooperative for use by local artisan masa vendors including food trucks and torterillas, for direct sale to households who do not have access to high quality non GMO masa, and seeds will be saved for future cultivation.
Aquilli Metzli serves the community by:
Support for Tribal Food Sovereignty
NCGA works with local tribes to connect their communities to locally grown and raised foods. This initiative will build upon those relationships to discuss successes and challenges to implementing food sovereignty programs, provide connections to resources and funding opportunities, and assist with the creation of production and emergency feeding plans.
Humboldt County Ag Day
This partnership with the Humboldt County Farm Bureau will offer an annual conference for school aged children in Humboldt County. These events will connect students with where their food comes from and promote workforce development for agricultural jobs for future generations.
Mini-grants for Farmers and Ranchers
Historically, small farms and ranches have been left out of state and USDA funding for agriculture, due to lengthy and convoluted application processes and a lack of support to navigate those processes. This micro-grant program will trial NCGA issuing and tracking micro-grants for local farmers, who will be able to easily access a one time injection of funding to improve on-farm systems and infrastructure. This will help increase production capacity for the region and the resiliency of farm's businesses.
Del Norte and Tribal Lands Gather and Grow Food Hub
Del Norte and Tribal Lands Community Food Council (DNATL CFC) is leading the North Coast Food System Network’s Del Norte–Tribal Lands expansion through the development of the Gather & Grow Food Hub and a regionally connected Resiliency Cold Node Project. With support from $350,000 in California Jobs First funding and over $2 million in leveraged local and state resources, DNATL CFC is advancing a 15,000-square-foot food hub toward shovel-ready status. The hub will serve as a cornerstone for food aggregation, processing, education, and access in Del Norte County—offering cold and dry storage, commercial and teaching kitchens, a retail market, and dedicated space for Tribal and community food programs. The associated Cold Node Project will install strategically located cold storage units to support local farmers, emergency response, and equitable food distribution across the county. These initiatives strengthen regional food sovereignty, build climate resilience, and extend the reach of the North Coast Food System Network into historically underserved communities.
Studying the Feasibility of a Meat Processing Facility
After the closure and restructuring of Redwood Meat Company, regional ranchers have implemented expensive pivots to continue their operations. This includes traveling over 250 extra miles to processing facilities, which has lead to an increase of up to $6/lb for locally raised meats.
Resilience Nodes
Currently, the Harvest Hub has improved cold storage for locally grown and raised foods, but is located along the coast in Arcata while most farms are located in remote areas of the county. These nodes will provide accessible cold storage for farmers and buyers, like schools, in remote areas of the region. This will allow smaller farms to increase sales through the Harvest Hub. These nodes will also be able to be used during emergency and disaster situations to collect and store food for the community, and can e used by emergency feeding entities who operate shelters and feeding sites.
Humboldt Dockside Market and Microprocessing Needs
Local fishermen face numerous challenges to directly marketing their catch. Currently, the only way for fishing vessels to sell their catch directly to consumers is off their boats on Woodley Island, which is not accessible to ADA customers or by public transportation. Additionally, the recent closure of Pacific Choice has limited the processing and buying services available for fishermen. This project will increase direct sales opportunities through the Dockside Market, while outlining gaps in processing infrastructure and systems. These gaps including cold storage, distribution for local catch, and processing for local seafood. Many of these gaps overlap with those of the agricultural system, so shared use infrastructure solutions will be explored between the Working Lands and Blue Economy sectors.
Aquilli Metzli Masa Cooperative
Led by community members, this Indigenous and Latinx led cooperative is implementing milpa growing practices on farms throughout Humboldt County that cultivate culturally appropriate foods. A variety of maize is currently being trialed in different microclimates to track outputs, and will be processed by the cooperative for use by local artisan masa vendors including food trucks and torterillas, for direct sale to households who do not have access to high quality non GMO masa, and seeds will be saved for future cultivation.
Aquilli Metzli serves the community by:
- Creating processing space for traditional Milpa products to be made, including Masa, Tortillas, Salsa, and dried herbs
- Nurturing and protecting Pan-American Indigenous cultures and practices in Humboldt County.
- Facilitating access to land, markets, volunteer labor, and business development resources and tools.
- Creating pathways for American Indigenous people to enter into agricultural, art, and gastronomic industries
- Establishing networks of organizations, businesses, and groups working toward food sovereignty and solvency.
Support for Tribal Food Sovereignty
NCGA works with local tribes to connect their communities to locally grown and raised foods. This initiative will build upon those relationships to discuss successes and challenges to implementing food sovereignty programs, provide connections to resources and funding opportunities, and assist with the creation of production and emergency feeding plans.
Humboldt County Ag Day
This partnership with the Humboldt County Farm Bureau will offer an annual conference for school aged children in Humboldt County. These events will connect students with where their food comes from and promote workforce development for agricultural jobs for future generations.
Mini-grants for Farmers and Ranchers
Historically, small farms and ranches have been left out of state and USDA funding for agriculture, due to lengthy and convoluted application processes and a lack of support to navigate those processes. This micro-grant program will trial NCGA issuing and tracking micro-grants for local farmers, who will be able to easily access a one time injection of funding to improve on-farm systems and infrastructure. This will help increase production capacity for the region and the resiliency of farm's businesses.