Ashland and cherryland are census-designated places nestled between the cities of hayward and SAN leandro in unincorporated alameda county.ashland and cherryland are diverse, with approximately half…

Ashland and cherryland are census-designated places nestled between the cities of hayward and SAN leandro in unincorporated alameda county.ashland and cherryland are diverse, with approximately half of the population that are hispanic/latinx (45.4% in ashland, 55.0% in cherryland), followed by asian (24.3% in ashland, 10.4% in cherryland) and black or african american (14.2% in ashland, 12.9% in cherryland).despite the ashland and cherryland community's strong propensity for partnership and organizing, 19.3% of ashland and 18.3% of cherryland are living at or below the federal poverty level.ashland has only three cafe establishments located near the periphery of the area and no major grocery stores located in the district. Farmers' markets and community supported agriculture programs (CSA) locations serving the ashland and cherryland community are limited; however, are available in more affluent areas of unincorporated county, like castro valley. The ashland community kitchen initiative will go beyond the notion of "if we build IT, they will come" by partnering with resident entrepreneurs and community members to transform a 623 SQ/FT space adjacent to the ashland market & cafe vendors into a culturally relevant kitchen space. Specifically, the ashland community kitchen will: source sustainably grown produce through mandela's black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) farmer network; create access to affordable and sustainably grown produce through mandela's CSA program; provide increased production capacity for limited-resource community food entrepreneurs; allow for test kitchen and hands-on training opportunities for burgeoning food entrepreneurs; and provide much needed dedicated space for nutrition education and community building.