On a three-acre lot in Govalle that once sat vacant and overgrown, neat rows of winter kale, chard, and broccoli now stretch toward the Texas sky. Tierra Viva Community Farm, founded by former public school teacher Raquel Sosa, has just launched its most ambitious initiative yet: a free weekly produce box program serving 500 East Austin families.
The program, called "Cosecha Compartida" (Shared Harvest), delivers boxes of fresh, organic vegetables to families in the 78702 and 78721 zip codes — areas identified by the USDA as food deserts despite the rapid gentrification transforming the surrounding neighborhoods.
"People talk about East Austin changing, about all the new restaurants and breweries," Sosa says, surveying the farm on a crisp February morning. "But there are still families here who can't afford fresh greens. That contradiction keeps me up at night — and it keeps me farming."
Sosa started Tierra Viva in 2023 with a $15,000 grant from the Austin Community Foundation and a lot of volunteer labor. The farm has since grown into a $400,000-a-year operation supported by grants from the Whole Foods Market Foundation, the City of Austin's sustainability office, and individual donors.
The farm employs 12 full-time staff, all from the surrounding neighborhood, and runs a bilingual apprenticeship program that has trained 45 aspiring farmers since its inception. Apprentice Marcus Johnson, 28, recently used skills learned at Tierra Viva to start his own backyard micro-farm in neighboring Johnston Terrace.
Beyond the produce boxes, Tierra Viva hosts a Saturday farmers market, after-school gardening programs for local elementary schools, and a popular series of canning and preservation workshops. The farm's community kitchen, completed last fall, allows families to cook together using the week's harvest.
"Food is how we hold onto our community," Sosa reflects. "This neighborhood has fed me my whole life. Now the farm feeds it back."