Sakata Seed America increases food bank donations

Sakata Seed America, through its Woodland Innovation Center, significantly increased the volume of fresh produce donations to the Yolo Food Bank in Woodland, CA. 

“Sakata Seed has been an amazing partner,” says Aliyah Moreno, Yolo Grown Program Coordinator for the Yolo Food Bank. “We have received various types of crops such as melons, watermelon, squash, tomatoes and peppers. Yolo Food Bank puts these crops to use by distributing them to the 60,000 Yolo County residents that we serve.”

During 2020, Sakata Seed donated over 37,000 pounds of fresh produce through the Yolo Food Bank program. Since Sakata established the Woodland Innovation Center in 2015, the company has made donations to the program, but significantly increased the volume during 2020. “With the pandemic, we saw a drastic increase in client need and attendance at our sites. Having such a huge increase in donations this past year was SO helpful and appreciated by so many people,” Said Moreno.

Sakata Seed America President/CEO, Dave Armstrong links the Yolo Food Bank donations to a larger program within the company. “We’ve recently launched our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) throughout Sakata’s global operations. We are focusing on the United Nations SDGs where we feel Sakata can make a specific impact—with reducing hunger being one of our aligned goals. We are focused on developing seed varieties that are resilient in multiple growing environments, and the donations from WIC are part of those research and breeding efforts.”

Sakata Seed America’s corporate values include focusing on sustainability and harmony in service to people and earth. According to Armstrong, “We’re making a concerted effort to align our company’s vision and values in order to be good corporate citizens. Making these type of donations puts our vision and values into action.”