Bay Area Cannabis Cultivation Company Gives Back to the Community

The cannabis industry has made record-breaking amounts of revenue from sales and taxes, thanks to the growth and acceptance of the plant being used for medical and recreational purposes. As a result of benefiting from great sales, companies like Bloom Farms have decided to give back to their local communities.

Bloom Farms recently celebrated having donated its 500,00th “healthy meal” to California’s state food banks on April 27. Since December 2015, the company has donated money toward a healthy family meal for every single product it has sold (through its “one-for-one program”).

Bloom Farms CEO, Michael Ray, shared his insight and excitement about having met such a monumental number of healthy meal donations. “True corporate responsibility involves investing equally in the success of your business and the social good,” Ray said. “It’s always been important to me that Bloom Farms grows into a different kind of cannabis company, and I couldn’t be prouder of this team and this very important milestone.”

In a Bloom Farms press release, the company stated that 5.4 million Californians (2.1 million are children) don’t know when they will eat their next meal. Through receiving donations, the California Association of Food Banks helps those in need by providing them with nutritious meals. Ray grew up in Calaveras County, and stated that he had many friends as a child who would stay over for dinner. “Back then, we were simply having my friends over for dinner, but I didn’t realize the severity of the situation until I got a little older and saw the statistics that say one in eight Californians don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” said Ray. “It just broke my heart, and I knew I had to do something about it.”

Ray believes that giving back to the community is essential for the cannabis industry’s reputation. “The cannabis industry should be no different than any other, but the truth is there’s still a stigma surrounding cannabis—but we can show the world that this stigma is little more than an anachronism by doing more than what is required of us.”

Bloom Farms plans to double its current meal donation number, with an hope that it will reach one-million meal donations by this Thanksgiving.