Since 1996, the Potrero Nuevo Fund has supported Bay Area community based organizations in three primary areas: environment, arts and sustainable architecture. This family foundation has supported a variety of organizations and programs dealing with local environmental issues, especially those working at a grassroots level to promote environmental justice in underserved neighborhoods. Schoolyard gardens and environmentally oriented curriculum have also been a priority for us. In part to expand the environmental education offerings we support, we purchased in 2008 a farm in Half Moon Bay, California. Now named Potrero Nuevo Farm, we are developing it into a place where people of all ages can expand their understanding of the natural world and of their food sources and their appreciation for protecting the environment.

We partner with several non-profits to bring environmental education programming to the Farm. We worked with a team of consultants to implement a long-term plan to develop a sustainable farm that stresses wise management of the riparian, wetland, coastal prairie and coastal scrub habitats of this nearly 300-acre property. So, too, we maintain native habitat for the wide variety of wildlife there, which includes diverse resident and migratory birds, deer, coyote, rabbits, and reptiles. A working farm of ~3 acres grows diversified organic vegetables for our CSA. Fruits, flowers, honey and pastured chicken eggs are sometimes available in smaller quantities. We hope to create a small incubator farm program so that young farmers can lease small tracts of land. Lastly, the farm will be protected from development in perpetuity.