Live Earth Farm: Food, Community and Connection
For Tom and Constance Broz, growing food is just the beginning
Live Earth Farm was always meant to do more: connect people to the land, foster community, and help cultivate a more just and sustainable food system from the ground up.
A Lifelong Call to Ecological Farming
Tom always knew he wanted to be a farmer. Growing up in Ecuador, he spent much of his childhood outdoors—playing on friends’ haciendas and developing a deep appreciation for the rhythms of the land. After studying agriculture at Cornell, Tom joined the Peace Corps in Samoa, where he witnessed the environmental toll of industrial agriculture. He saw how chemicals used in farming washed into the ocean, damaging coral reefs and disrupting fragile island ecosystems.
Later, while working for the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco, Tom encountered similar problems closer to home—pesticides from farms leaching into groundwater, threatening both human and ecological health. These experiences deepened his conviction: farming had to be done differently.
Tom Broz works the CSA packing station with his full-time employed team. Live Earth’s CSA serves hundreds of households each week.
Building Live Earth Farm
In the mid-1990s, Tom and his wife Constance moved to Watsonville and joined the U.C. Santa Cruz’s Farm Apprenticeship Program.
“The apprenticeship program at UC Santa Cruz was probably the only organic training program available,” Tom said. “The people were super inspiring—real pioneers.”
In 1996, the couple launched Live Earth Farm, gradually transforming 20 acres of overgrazed pasture into a diverse organic farm. Today, the operation spans 65 acres, produces more than 50 different crops, and serves as a vibrant hub for both food and education.
One thing that sets the farm apart is its deep integration of biodiversity. Tom has planted hedgerows and preserved native shrubs along field edges to attract beneficial birds and insects. These living buffers offer natural pest control, enhance carbon sequestration, and reduce the need for costly interventions.
In 2023, Tom was named Santa Cruz County’s Farmer of the Year by the local Farm Bureau, which called the farm “a model for incorporating biodiversity into food production.”
Live Earth Farm was also part of the first wave of farms to pioneer community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Today, it operates one of the region’s largest and most customizable CSAs, delivering fresh, organic produce to 800–900 households each week.
Farm Discovery: Community & Education
At the heart of Live Earth Farm’s mission is Farm Discovery, the on-farm education nonprofit founded by Constance. What began as a small outreach effort has grown into a robust program that now welcomes over 3,000 students a year.
Summer campers explore the farm with hands-on activities in farming, art and cooking and tractor rides around the 150-acre organic farm.
Farm Discovery partners with local schools, community groups, and youth-serving organizations—especially those working with kids who might not otherwise have access to healthy food, nature-based learning, or time outdoors. Through field trips, farm camps, and hands-on workshops, participants dig in the soil, harvest produce, and connect with the seasons. Kids learn to plant seeds, care for animals, pick vegetables, and prepare fresh meals from scratch.
The program weaves together food justice, environmental stewardship, and farm-to-table literacy—teaching not just where food comes from, but why it matters.
A Vision for the Future
Tom and Constance envision a future where California’s food system is made up of a rich tapestry of small, diverse, local farms.
They believe agriculture is about more than productivity—it’s a way of cultivating healthy communities, caring for the land, and nourishing both body and spirit.
Whether it’s sharing the bounty of just-picked produce, watching a child taste their first strawberry, or witnessing the quiet magic of people gathering around food—these are the real harvests of Live Earth.
(This story also appears in the July 24 edition of the Rootstock Gazette)
