San Benito County Local News: Agriculture, Food & Gardening

Hollister High School culinary teacher and chef Mike Fisher has been named San Benito High School District’s Manager of Nutrition Services, effective at the start of the new semester in January.

In a Nov. 26 meeting, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors tabled a series of amendments to a number of zoning ordinances listed in the County Code. The amendments, which were introduced by county staff, aimed to change substantial parts of the county’s land use policies, including allowing commercial development on land zoned for agricultural use.

After winning a state grant, San Benito County officials began the process of creating the Agricultural Element to include in the 2035 General Plan—the document that by law guides all county land use decisions. 

Downtown Gilroy’s new Gourmet Alley, designed to be a pedestrian friendly corridor, officially opened to the public on Nov. 8.

.Community FoodBank of San Benito is partnering with other essential service organizations in our community to raise funds and awareness this holiday season. The 12 Days of Giving campaign – which raised $156,000 last year – brings together four organizations to support the needs of our neighbors right here in San Benito County.

“This is a local story about a global issue, the future of water. In a three-part series of field reports and podcasts, Bay City News reporter Ruth Dusseault looks at the tunnel’s stakeholders, its engineering challenges, and explores the preindustrial Delta and its future restoration."

It has been three years to the day since Joseph Elmhorst’s Steakstop became the first food truck licensed by Hollister to operate at a fixed location within the Hollister city limits.

Local Hollister thrift store Worth Saving Mercantile, the anchor for Linda Lampe’s Food Angels program, will be closing its doors next month. The downtown location has served as a haven for homeless and food-insecure people for the last six years.

Nursery crops retained their top spot in Santa Clara County in 2023, according to Santa Clara County’s latest Crop Report, with mushrooms clinging to the No. 2 spot despite a drop in crop value of almost 8% from 2022 due to the closure of one mushroom farm, according to county officials.

The Planning Commission sent a development agreement regarding the Ag Center project, proposed for the intersection of Highways 101 and 129, to the Board of Supervisors for discussion. 

About a dozen farm tractors drove through downtown Hollister on Oct. 12 to demonstrate farmers' opposition to Measure A on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Linda Lampe’s Worth Saving thrift store was supposed to be closed on the day of our interview, but she was otherwise occupied—fixing lunch in the back kitchen for a homeless man. He was one of the many people who came by needing food and a word of encouragement, knowing they could get both from Lampe without judgment.

As the Hollister Downtown Association’s Farmer’s Market has been bringing loads of locals to downtown Hollister on Wednesday afternoons since April, BenitoLink decided to jump in on the fun.

The fourth annual San Martin Airport Day and Food Truck Fly-In is scheduled for 9am-3pm Oct. 26 at the San Martin Airport. The free event features aircraft demonstrations; food offerings from local food trucks; live music; aircraft on display; skydiving demonstrations; RC aircraft performances; meet-and-greets with local pilots and flight schools; classic car show; silent auction; tethered hot air balloon rides (weather permitting, in the early morning before the event); and a beer and wine garden.