“We’re all great friends,” says Iacopi Farms’ Mike Iacopi whose grandfather Michael immigrated to the Coastside in 1939. David is one of numerous third-generation descendants of Coastside Italian immigrants who maintain the farming legacy and tight-knit community that began with their grandparents. “They only went to the store once a month because milk and bread were delivered, and they made everything else by hand.” Today, David farms the land first settled by his grandparents- now referred to as Cabrillo Farms Agriculture-along with his 94-year-old father Ed who was born and raised on the family farm. “That’s how they fed themselves,” says Giorgio‘s grandson, David Lea, who remembers spending time on the farm as a young boy. David Lea is one of numerous third-generation descendants of Coastside Italian immigrants who maintain the farming legacy. Eventually, the Leas started their own commercial vegetable farm which included a homestead filled with gardens and livestock. Giorgio Lea immigrated from Italy in 1922, and, together with his wife who joined him a few years later, found work on a local farm-he as a laborer and she as a cook for farm workers. Drawn to a coastal landscape that reflected their homeland, as well as a burgeoning community of relatives and compatriots, these Italian immigrants began sowing the seeds of modern Coastside farms. Dianda was one of many Italian immigrants that fled Italy for the United States around the turn of the 20th century. One of the first enterprising individuals to take advantage of these favorable environs was Dante Dianda whose successful artichoke farm earned him the title, The Artichoke King. What makes the Coastside so conducive for agriculture? Thank the mineral-rich sea air and cool, moderate climate that provide the ideal growing conditions for a variety of crops including beans, pumpkins, and artichokes. Food trends and businesses have shifted over the years-from the frozen food manufacturers that proliferated in the 1950s to today’s farmers' markets that bustle with Bay Area foodies-yet a strong connection to the land and a respect for its stewards remain a constant in the pastoral, seaside community. Since then, Coastside farms have fed the nation with their tender artichokes, famed Brussels sprouts, and fresh beans.
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