Everything was looking up for Rod Dodd of Long Beach, the private estate chef and urban farmer who was fast building a reputation for providing fresh-grown food for area restaurants.
After about five years, his quarter-acre Organic Harvest urban farm — in the middle of North Long Beach — was on the upswing, with some of the city’s top restaurants and chefs onboard as customers. He and business partner Adam Romick, certified master gardeners, were picking up other high-end catering gigs as well.
But then the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“Most of the restaurants could not utilize our services anymore,” Dodd, 64, said. “So we said, ‘What are we going to do?’”
Time for a major pivot.
And it wasn’t hard to find a need to fill.
Using some grant donations and much of their own resources, Dodd and his urban farm partner came up with a plan to provide fresh produce to seniors who were suddenly locked inside their homes.
Soon, they had a data base of 300 people spread out throughout the city. They make weekly deliveries.
“A lot of the seniors couldn’t get out or they were afraid to get out to go to the stores,” he said.
“We deliver right to their door,” he added. “One lady was saying she hadn’t been out for three months to a grocery store. She just started crying.”
Without a lot of funding, they teamed up with the Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion, thanks to a referral and assistance from Long Beach City Councilman Rex Richardson, and are also looking into doing something with Blue Shield.
Famed chef Jason Witzl remains a paying customer via Ellie’s and Lupe’s de la Mar, both restaurants in Long Beach that have maintained take-out options for at least part of the pandemic stretch.
But for now, the booming income from high-end restaurants, catering and on-site events is pretty much gone.
“At one time, we had farm-to-table dinners, seating 150 people at long tables” on the farm property, said Dodd, who moved from Los Angeles to Long Beach six years ago to be closer to his mother, a coronavirus survivor who now is 89 and lives in Lakewood.
“Things are going to get better,” he said. “You have to stay optimistic and hopeful.”
Seeing their income dwindle and hard-earned restaurant clientele vanish was tough.
“But we’re Christian people and we had a desire to serve the community,” Dodd said. “It’s not just about making money. If you have something, you should use it to share with others. We have the vegetables and we have the groceries.”
Rod Dodd
Age: 64
Residence: Long Beach
Job: Certified master gardener and boutique chef
Why he’s a pandemic hero: Dodd pivoted his Organic Harvest urban farm toward helping feed seniors who couldn’t go to the grocery store amid the coronavirus pandemic.
December 29, 2020 at 09:00PM
https://www.dailybreeze.com/2020/12/29/pandemic-era-heroes-urban-farmer-had-the-fresh-produce-many-seniors-needed-during-the-pandemic
Pandemic-era heroes: Urban farmer had the fresh produce many seniors needed during the pandemic - The Daily Breeze
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment