Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Jessica A. Handy, Founder of Sandalwood Farm and Sanctuary and their mission is an urban farm, fostering community through food culture, skill sharing, play and it's also a third place for people. Thank you so much for being here.
Jessica A. Handy
Appreciate you having me, Maya.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you, of course. Can we go back to the moment the idea for Sandalwood Farm and Sanctuary first came to you? What were the first tangible steps and some challenges you faced turning that vision into a real urban farm in the middle of Rialto?
Jessica A. Handy
Thank you for that question. Honestly, I give it to higher being, God. I'm a dietitian, so that's one of the hats I wear, is I'm really passionate about health and wellness. Growing up in a community and a family where there was we had a lot of health challenges, and that inspired me to want to be a part of the solution. So I studied nutrition at Cal Poly Pomona, went on to work for the WIC program, did a lot of community workshops, worked at farmers markets and health departments, but I felt like there was still something missing for me, like I can teach folks about what to eat, but on my own journey of learning and discovering agriculture and wanting to grow food. After having becoming a mom, wanting to grow food in our little backyard, it just inspired me to one, teach myself, but want to teach others and help people connect on a deeper level to food. So fast forward, I've worked for a nonprofit called Kiss the Ground, and I have stewarded a farm out in Ventura County, so I've been all around like SoCal, and there was an opportunity to manage that farm for the last three years. They have since moved. But shortly after that, we actually had a tragedy in my family. My brother in law passed away, who has raised his children with my sister - their five children in Rialto for the last 15 years. And so my husband and I decided to move to Rialto to be closer to her, and we had an opportunity to relocate to a property that is family-owned. It's a little over a half acre. And I was like, there's a purpose here, a greater purpose for us being here. It's been 18 months now, but I would say for the last year is when we really started doing the farm work of planting the first seeds, building garden beds, mulching, composting. And there's been a huge transformation in the space, the energy, the community that's been built around. And it's only the beginning.
Maya Gwynn
What was the first harvest like? I'm so curious. Can you describe the feeling of seeing something grow from an empty lot?
Jessica A. Handy
Yes. So our first few things, we grew easy, low hanging fruit crops. So beets. We did some herbs. So like lemon balm. We wanted to grow herbs that could be beneficial to the community. Lemon balm is great for calming and actually, a dear friend who's from the community and a yoga instructor, Latoya -
Maya Gwynn
Former guest.
Jessica A. Handy
Yeah, former guest. She teaches a monthly free yoga classes on the farm, and usually after the yoga class, we're able to show what's growing, and we've harvested the lemon balm, and she's able to teach folks, along with myself, like, what these different herbs support in terms of ailments and how that you can benefit from taking them. And I would say most recently, like our greatest, most celebrated, successful crop, has been our okra that we planted this summer, our tomatillo, and we also had watermelon radish.
Maya Gwynn
Farming while black carries deep historical and cultural layers. What does this experience mean to you personally, and how have you navigated the unique challenges or stereotypes that come with being a black farmer in an urban environment?
Jessica A. Handy
Growing up, I didn't know any farmers, certainly Black farmers personally, but you see on TV, books, it was always this white man, overalls, in the south with corn, and so I didn't have any connection to black farming. All I know was like slavery, we were forced to be on land, cotton like, that was the narrative. But I didn't have any relationship to our connection to intentionally being caretakers of land by choice. I learned later on that we're out there. We have a beautiful legacy of stewarding land. The stories just weren't told. And now to be able to find other farmers, to discover that, you know, it's in all of our lineage. All of us have ancestors who were farming beyond how we came to America, and just to be able to celebrate that, and be able to really pull from those beautiful stories of our connection to land and stewards that it's a way of living, I want to be an example. I want to inspire other young folks and even people who are older than me, to see that this is something that we're meant to be connected to our food systems, and it's not just a certain type of people. This is who we are, and we are part of nature, and you don't have to have a ton of resources to do it. I think that's often a barrier for folks, too. I'm very resourceful in terms of just, we can seed save, we can propagate, meaning, literally, you can cut off a branch on a collard green, put it in soil, and you have another plant.
Maya Gwynn
Sandalwood Farm and Sanctuary describes itself as a third place, which I love. I feel like that's something we're definitely talking about with in media, and just in general, is that, like so many third places are not there anymore. Like people go to work, they go home, and that's it. You guys say you're a space for food culture and play. How do community events, like yoga sessions, like we talked about and I saw that, you guys started with a neighborhood cleanup day, which I love, bringing that vision to life and help people connect to the land. In your opinion?
Jessica A. Handy
Yeah, I mean, I think our lens is holistic. You know, wellness is not just yoga, gym. It's like also our mental, our body, mind and soul. It's so we really want to be a space where it's not just compartmentalized. Experiences come for yoga. We're also, you know, we want to nourish you and talk about what's growing on the land. Come, bring a journal if you want to just relax and have a little moment to yourself for some wellness. The food is obviously the core, the foundation, but there's all of these other elements that are just as important part of it. And, you know, being in the IE, we talk about all the warehouses that are being built. In Rialto, there is a landfill that's less than a half a mile from where our farm is. And, you know, thinking about just the health of our community and that there's a lot of room for growth and improvement, our goal is to be a healing hub, be an example of what's possible, being able to have conversations about what's happening in our community, we can inspire improvement, inspire planting more trees, planting more healing vegetables, so that we're able to just really elevate our community as a whole. And you know, I want that to continue and flourish as people come and they're like, this is an opportunity to really be that third space for people, like, it's theirs and it's happening.
Maya Gwynn
Yeah, you could tell already.
Jessica A. Handy
Thank you.
Maya Gwynn
We're gonna move to a rapid fire portion. I'm excited to hear your answers. If your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Jessica A. Handy
I'm a huge fan of Sade. And like, what gets me going - Paradise. Like, I want to create a space. I feel like Sandalwood could be that.
Maya Gwynn
If you had to teach a masterclass or give a TED Talk, and a random skill you have besides being a farmer or a dietitian, what would it be?
Jessica A. Handy
Zero Waste. Use what you got. Repurpose, zero waste. So we are better stewards of the land.
Maya Gwynn
And what's your favorite IE restaurant or landmark to remind you of the Inland Empire?
Jessica A. Handy
I'm, you know, somewhat new to the Inland Empire - ish. Garcia Center, I feel like is a really cool space that has, like, you know, a lot of little things happening there. Just hiking trails. I love hitting some of the local San Bernardino Mountains as well.
Maya Gwynn
That's a good one. And how can people keep up with you and support your work?
Jessica A. Handy
Well, hit us up on Instagram. You know, we have our monthly yoga classes, and we'll make sure that on Instagram we post all the events that we're having. It's Sandalwood Farm_IE. Awesome.
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate this conversation. I can't wait to come.
Jessica A. Handy
Thank you, Maya. Look forward to hosting you and having you try the lemon balm. I'll have some tea ready for you.
Maya Gwynn
Jessica A. Handy is founder of Sandalwood Farm and Sanctuary. Find this segment and others at kvcrnews.org/bpie. Support for the segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments and black led organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn, thank you.
