Sustain Supper October 18th, 2025

Sustain Supper October 18th, 2025

Come join us at the Natural Bridges Farm for the most delicious at a farm-to-table dining experience at their and support the work of the Homeless Garden Project! Enjoy a 4 course meal and a celebration of this year's harvest, community and sustainability.

Our keynote speaker poet Jane Hirshfield, described in The New York Times Magazine as “writing some of the most important poems in the world today,” is the author of ten books of poetry, most recently The Asking: New & Selected Poems (Knopf, 2023), as well as two now-classic collections of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (HarperCollins, 1997) and Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Knopf, 2015) and four books presenting the work of world poets from the deep past. More about Jane Hirshfield can be found within the agenda section.

We are also excited to announce that one of the evening's featured chefs will be the legendary local fixture, Jozseph Schultz of the famed India Joze. Having transformed simple ingredients into complex food epiphanies for the Santa Cruz community for over 50 years, Chef Jozseph was the featured subject of Director Jon Silver's 2022's documentary, Foodie for the People. As an ally of the Homeless Garden Project from the very beginning, nobody blends world cuisine, culture, community, art and social justice like our beloved India Joze and we are so lucky and grateful that he'll be one of the featured chefs preparing the Supper's meal.

Join your community, support our unhoused neighbors, and enjoy the fresh flavors of local produce. We'll have live music, local unique beverages and wine options, a farm tour and more! Stay tuned for further updates, including the mre on the chefs and menu, coming soon.

You are welcome to visit HGP's Downtown Store (1338 Pacific Ave. in the El Palomar building) to get your tickets and related books to save on eventbrite fees. We look forward to seeing you at the Farm!

SPONSORED BY:

New Leaf Community Markets

Superior Foods

Alta Organc Coffee & Tea

Sandbar Solar

Interested in sponsorship? Please contact [email protected]

Info: Hirshfield’s work encompasses a large range of influences, drawing from the sciences, the garden, and the kitchen, as well as from the world’s literary, intellectual, artistic, and spiritual traditions. Her first poem appeared in The Nation in 1973, winning what would become the next year the Discovery Award shortly after she graduated from college. She then put aside writing for nearly eight years to study at the San Francisco Zen Center. “I felt that I’d never make much of a poet if I didn’t know more than I knew at that time about what it means to be human,” Hirshfield has said of her years of formal Zen practice. “I don’t think poetry is based just on poetry; it is based on a thoroughly lived life.”

Info: Founded in 1990, HGP operates an organic farm and value-added retail enterprise as hosts to workforce development support for people experiencing homelessness. Our transitional employment strategy combines wage-paid work, job skills training, and supportive services to help individuals facing barriers to employment succeed in the workforce and obtain housing. Transitional jobs program participants earn a paycheck, learn skills, and receive intensive mentoring and support. Last year, 93% of graduates obtained stable employment and stable housing

Info: TBA

Info: We are so honored to welcome our longtime collaborator and supporter, Jozseph Schultz of India Joze fame to the Supper. Having supported us since our founding, Jozseph has long been working his magic on the Farm, sometimes working behind the scenes and out of the spotlight to make our food events successful. It is a great honor to have such a maestro of the kitchen with us once more at this Supper.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Homeless Garden Project's Natural Bridges Farm, Shaffer Rd. and Delaware Ave., Santa Cruz, United States