Mission: Co-creating a regenerative grow-to-donate farming and learning community that connects and supports underserved families, growing accessible healthy food, and earning livable wage jobs.
Vision: A participatory network of local food systems and learning and working communities to unite people with the joy of growing, donating, preparing, and sharing healthy, delicious food.
DEI: At Open Source Ag, we believe that the strength and vitality of our regenerative, grow-to-donate farming and learning community depend on including people from all backgrounds and experiences. Our mission to co-create accessible food systems and livable wage jobs is rooted in the conviction that everyone deserves a seat at the table—literally and figuratively.
We are committed to stewarding a participatory network where diversity is celebrated, and equity is actively pursued. We welcome and support families, individuals, and communities of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and lived experiences. We recognize the systemic barriers that have historically limited access to healthy food, land, education, and fair employment, and we strive together to dismantle these barriers through our programs, partnerships, and practices.
Link to view our Platinum GuideStar organization profile.
Conventional and Regenerative Ag
We utilize regenerative practices and we partner with conventional ag farms too. Our purpose is to encourage people away from highly processed foods.
Produce donations totaled 8,200 pounds from our garden and another 2,000 pounds from Soloro, our sister garden, to SLO Meals that Connect, SLO Food Bank, ECHO Homeless, and Santa Maria Urban Ministry in San Jose. We have an orchard in year three that hasn’t been in play yet. Focus was on expanding community efforts. We bought a box trailer to pick up produce we purchase or glean from local farmers or gardeners to increase contributions.
2024 Annual Report (links within this site)
Our Team
The Open Source Ag 501 (c)(3) small farm site is owned by Curt and Kelly Cooper. The farm is leased to Open Source Ag for $1 per year. The Coopers don’t collect wages, salary, or benefits from the nonprofit. They donate between $35,000-50,000 of personal funds each year toward growing and donating food. All produce is donated, none is sold.
We are grateful for the community of friends and partners supporting our efforts to grow, donate, and scale.
Our partners and sponsors are impressed by our operational approach and capacity. We retired to start this grow-to-donate farm. Kelly’s career was as faculty and later as vice chancellor in the CA Community College system. She led, wrote, and reported on approximately $75m in grant awards. Kelly is certified in permaculture design and a PMI Certified Agile Practitioner. Curt’s career was as vice president or COO in high-tech manufacturing. Together, we have significant operations and project management experience.
