The Partners
Yubakami operates on a small footprint. We talk person-to-personwith the growers, pick up their produce on the farm, and drive it directly to our customers. We have a warehouse and cold storage space for when we need it, but we hardly do. No inventory systems, no long-distance shipping, no farmers that we don’t know personally. But we want to make a larger impact, and this is where our partners come in.
Steven has worked with Yuba County for years, consulting on a 2023 Needs Assessment: https://yestoyuba.com/uploads/docs/Needs_Assessment_Report_Final.pdf
This assessment has informed the ongoing work of the Yuba SutterBlue Zones Project and its offspring, the Yuba Sutter Food Policy Council, of which Steven is a founding member. It also inspired a Sacramento regional perspective on Yuba County agriculture by Valley Vision: Yuba-County_CROPreport%20(3).pdf. And Yubakami’s involvement in the Sacramento Farm to Fork scene resulted in Yuba County hosting a signature event of the 2025 Terra Madre celebration. Our Hmong farmers inspired a feast in downtown Marysville, overseen by top chef Yia Vang.
And, widening the circle to embrace the whole of California, Yubakami is part of an active dialogue to encourage truly local food hubs and self-reliant community food systems. Here is Steven in 2024 with CDFA Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross (and, on the left, Anna Hopkins from a small food hub in Los Angeles)
Current Initiatives
Healthy Harvest: a pilot program funded by Sutter Health, in partnership with the California Association of Food Banks, to provide monthly food boxes to farm workers. Yubakami is the vendor for what will hopefully become a state-wide project.
Yuba Sutter Blue Zones and Yuba Sutter Food Policy Council: on-going policy input to place regeneratively-minded small farmers at the center of our emerging local food system.
Farms Together: continuing partnership with Fresh Approach, California Alliance with Family Farmers, and California Association of Food Banks to bring fresh local produce to food banks throughout the North State.