“Food desert” is a term a lot of people use, but it has never told the full truth. It makes it sound like these conditions just happen on their own, like a natural disaster. But our community knows better.
Food Apartheid is what we live with. It is the systems and policies that have, for generations, limited access to healthy food in Black and low-income neighborhoods.

At Rustic Roots Sanctuary, we believe deeply in food sovereignty, the right of people to grow, access, and define their own food systems. Healthy, culturally meaningful food shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be a right.

When the Shop ’n Save closed in Spanish Lake in 2018, it was a turning point. One of the last full-service grocery stores was gone, leaving just one to feed a community of 18,000 people. We could have waited for another chain to move in, but we knew we couldn’t depend on corporations to take care of us. So we planted seeds. Literally.

Spanish Lake has soil that will grow almost anything you put into it. And since day one, we’ve believed that everyone in our community should have access to the abundance this land can offer.

In just a few years, Rustic Roots Sanctuary has grown and distributed over 75,000 pounds of food. We share this food through the Spanish Lake Farmers Market, Giveaways, and through our senior and young families programs. This isn't charity, this is community feeding community.

Along the way, we discovered something unexpected:
our farm became a place of healing.

People have told us they come for the food, but they stay because the space makes them feel calm, grounded, and connected. We host celebrations, workshops, field trips, farmer training, and holistic healing gatherings. We’ve learned that when we heal our relationship with the land, we begin to heal ourselves too.

And as our work grew, so did our understanding of what Spanish Lake truly needs: long-term, community-owned food infrastructure. Spanish Lake needs real systems that don’t disappear with the next grant cycle or grocery store closure.

That’s why we’re building:

Fresh Picked Farm Stop

A community grocery store that brings fresh, local food back into the neighborhood. No more long drives for produce. No more empty shelves. Just healthy food grown by people you know.

North County Harvest Hub

A shared-use cold storage, aggregation, and processing facility that will support local farmers, create jobs, reduce food waste, and finally build the food distribution system Spanish Lake has always deserved.

These projects are not just buildings. They are the foundation of a new kind of food system, one rooted in justice, sustainability, and community power.

This is big work. And we cannot do it alone.

Your support helps us grow food, run our farmers market, support seniors and young families, train new farmers, offer healing programs, and bring these major infrastructure projects to life.

Every dollar strengthens the local food system we are building together.

We know food equity is a big goal. But with community behind us, it’s possible.

Thank you for standing with Rustic Roots Sanctuary.
Thank you for standing with the land, the people, and the future we’re growing right here in Spanish Lake.

Creating Food Equity in Spanish Lake

Rustic Roots Sanctuary Healthy Food Access

Team Members