Six months ago, something truly incredible began in the eastern Sierra – a partnership that’s turning fresh food into more than just a meal. It’s turning it into connection, joy, and dignity.
Through a collaboration with Nourish Food Hub, a family-run business in Cedarville, families in communities from Modoc and Lassen counties to South Lake Tahoe are now receiving vibrant, locally grown food – fruits, vegetables, eggs, and even grass-fed beef – that tastes as good as it feels to receive.
At The Salvation Army in Susanville, neighbors open their Nourish Food Hub bags with wide smiles, swap recipes, and sometimes just sit quietly, savoring the moment. One senior called simply to say, “It’s just nice to know someone thought of us.”
This is what happens when food becomes more than food – when it becomes a gesture that says, you matter, you belong, and you deserve this.
A SHARED MISSION TO NOURISH
Founded by Owen and Hannah, Nourish Food Hub works with more than twenty small farms within roughly a hundred miles of Surprise Valley. Their mission is both truly meaningful and simple – make it easier for local producers to sell what they grow, and for families to access food that is fresh, seasonal, and grown close to home.
Through the Community Alliance with Family Farmers’ Farms Together initiative, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and Nourish Food Hub launched a pilot project to strengthen food access across the eastern California Sierra served by the Food Bank. Each week, Nourish Food Hub assembles 100 “Nourish bags” filled with vibrant fruits, crisp vegetables, leafy greens, farm-fresh eggs, and even grass-fed beef. These bags are delivered through trusted Food Bank partners – The Salvation Army and HOPE food pantries in Susanville, TEACH in Alturas, and Christmas Cheer in South Lake Tahoe – reaching neighbors who might otherwise go without.
FRESH FOOD, REAL CONNECTION
The impact has been immediate, tangible, and deeply moving. At The Salvation Army in Susanville, faces light up when neighbors receive their Nourish bags. Families share recipes, seniors call just to say thank you, and one neighbor told staff, “It’s just nice to know someone thought of us.”
For many, opening a bag brimming with fresh, locally raised foods brings pride, joy, and dignity – a reminder that everyone deserves the same quality of food found at any farmers market. Distribution becomes more than a transaction – it becomes a moment of human connection, a gesture that says, you matter.
SUPPORTING LOCAL PRODUCERS
The partnership also strengthens small farms. Consistent weekly purchases from Nourish Food Hub allow producers to plan ahead, grow more, and rely on stable income.
“For the first time, we can tell farmers, ‘We’ll buy what you harvest,’” Owen tells us. “That’s huge for them – and for us.”
This stability has enabled Nourish Food Hub to expand its own capacity. With a reliable partnership in place, they invested in a refrigerated van – a practical, yet transformative step that keeps produce fresh during long drives to rural communities, ensuring every bag reaches neighbors at its peak.
GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER
Serving ten California counties, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada has long supported neighbors in the eastern Sierra. But partnerships like this one allow us to do it in ways that are more thoughtful, more connected, and more reflective of the communities we serve.
The program has grown well beyond its pilot phase, with plans to include even more local products, like honey, wild rice, and additional proteins. Each new addition strengthens a regional food system that supports farmers, boosts local economies, and ensures families have access to food that nourishes both body and spirit.
At its heart, this partnership is about more than food. It’s about bringing the harvest home – connecting farmers and families, generosity and gratitude, and the people and places that make the communities we serve so special. It’s about pride in what we grow, joy in what we share, and dignity in every meal delivered.
