Flower Farm Pivots, Plants Produce This Year To Help During Coronavirus Pandemic
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) - A family in Arvada is stepping up to help their community face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic by changing the business model of their urban farm from flowers to food. They then donate the fresh produce to local food banks every week.
The Kushik family owns Crescendum Flowers and Events, an urban farm that was originally set to be a flower farm. But when COVID-19 hit just weeks after getting their business license, they quickly transformed the mission behind the business.
"When we found this property a year and a half ago, long before the times of COVID, it felt just magical," explained Krista Kushik. "But it didn't make sense for me to fill all of our field with flowers when I didn't even know if that market was still going to exist because a lot of those events that I was planning on selling the flowers, to weren't going to be there."
Kushik said despite the tough times, they knew they wanted to use the farm to bring people together. They decided to transform many of the flower fields into gardens, asking the community to help start seeds they could plant on their farm in the Spring.
"People brought over their plants, and we even had some volunteers come out to help plant them and get this started," Kushik said.
Now, the family grows and harvests boxes of vegetables every week. They're donating the fresh produce to local food banks. So far, they've donated more than 330 pounds of vegetables to the Community Table in Arvada, as food insecurity in the community continues to grow.
"The need is always great, and then you add out, or add up, how many people have lost their jobs because of COVID," Kushik said.
While this wasn't the business model the family had planned on, Kushik said it means a lot to be able to share the joys of fresh, locally grown produce with those in need.
"There is something about eating a tomato that was grown locally that you get from a farm or a farmer's market that just tastes so much better," Kushik said. "So to be able to bring that local produce to our food banks that give people who are going through hard times, the dignity and the energy to feel what fresh veggies gives to them."
Kushik said they are also helping to deliver fresh produce from other local urban famers who also want to donate to Community Table. Their goal was to donate 500 pounds of food this summer.
While Crescendum Flowers and Events is currently growing food to donate to those in need, they still are selling some flower bouquets. Once COVID-19 is over, they hope to host community farm-to-table events and continue to donate some of their vegetables to local food banks.
"If you just go with where the universe seems to be pushing you, sometimes it ends up better than what you thought you could've created yourself," she said.
