Blog

When the Palisades and Eaton fires swept through Southern California in January 2025, thousands of families were already living on the edge. Homelessness across the state had reached record highs the year before, and the fires compounded the crisis—displacing residents, straining local resources, and leaving many struggling to access food. Six months later, many of those families were still in trouble. So the Agricultural Platform Collective (APC) and The FruitGuys joined forces to help.

For José Corona, some of the most important lessons of his life were learned around the table. Growing up in Watsonville, where agriculture shaped every corner of daily life, his earliest memories are of his father’s farm parties, marked by music, laughter, and, of course, plates of food that stretched across tables.

On a quiet street in Fresno, California, a small parking lot comes alive every Thursday. Trucks pull in, pallets are unloaded, and the scent of just-picked peaches, onions and leafy greens fills the air. Farmers greet each other as they drop off crates bound for schools, food banks, and community programs across the state—part of APC’s growing network of drop points that ensure what’s harvested makes it to tables with dignity and reliability.

APC is dedicated to fostering an ecosystem where small producers lead the transition to regenerative agriculture, integrating sustainable practices that restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen farms’ ability to withstand the effects of climate change. By employing techniques such as crop rotation, cover cropping, fertilizer management, and minimizing synthetic chemical inputs, regenerative agriculture creates more enduring and sustainable agricultural systems.