Second Chance Harvest "Nothing Added, Simply Freeze Dried"

Our Story

Welcome to Second Chance Harvest's landing page. My name is Tom Jacobson and as Co-Founder of Second Chance Harvest along with my wife Gioia (pronounced Joy-a), we are striving to help preserve harvests in a sustainable way. We moved to Carpinteria to make a better life for us and our boys, but even in paradise there is work to be done. I enjoy taking my family to farms around Santa Barbara County allowing us the opportunity to see the beautiful fields and orchards change throughout the seasons. However, we quickly discovered not all of the harvests make it off the farms.

In my experience both in produce distribution and as a farmhand, I have witnessed the seemingly inevitable and unfortunate food waste from farm to table. My wife and I decided we wanted to help but weren't sure how. Then one day, she sent me a link to what I thought was a new washing machine on sale. Turns out it was a freeze dryer and so we began to dream of the possibilities.

Nowadays, we live the dream by working with farmers to preserve their hard worked harvests without additives and by using sustainable business practices.

A Brief History & Our Mission

Humans have been preserving food for longer than recorded history. We've learned that food can be smoked, salted, fermented, put in a brine or alcohol, dried, chilled, frozen, canned or vacuum sealed for preservation. In some cases the shelf life can be increased by months and even a few years. Yet, humanity still struggles with food waste. Second Chance Harvest is here to help preserve farmers' bountiful harvests and give the produce a second chance to market.

We understand farmers aren't always able to sell all of their crop; distributors, markets, and manufacturers must abide by certain levels of quality assurance; and consumers do not always use all of the product before it expires. Under current standards food waste understandably happens. Second Chance Harvest was created to help change the standards in how we preserve farmers bountiful harvests without additives. Freeze drying technology has allowed us that opportunity.

The Freeze Drying process works like this: The food is frozen, then the pressure is decreased, and a small amount of heat is applied which allows the frozen water in the food to turn directly into its gaseous form (sublimation). This process preserves the final products' flavor, color, 97% of its nutritional value and can last up to 20+ years once appropriately packaged because 98% of its water content has been removed.

We aim to provide a sustainable service for our farmers and communities. The freeze dryer vacuum pump is oil free, a solar powered energy source is on the horizon, our packaging is currently 60% biodegradable, and hybrid/electric company vehicles are in the near future. By 2022 we expect to have 100% biodegradable packaging.

Produce We Currently Preserve

To date we have successfully freeze dried:

Apples
Bananas
Blackberries
Blueberries
Passion Fruit
Persimmons
Raspberries
Stone Fruits
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Variety of Herbs

If you have produce you would like to preserve that is currently not on the list, please contact us and we can discuss options.

Who We Work With

Frecker Farms

Frecker Farms is certified organic and was established in 2013 by Alex Frecker at the age of 25. He took a huge chance spending every penny he had saved and worked essentially non-stop for months to get the ball moving and now his sweat and determination paid off. He has grown the farm from a 3 acre plot to over 40+ acres in the past few years, set down roots in the community, and built a reputation for growing delicious strawberries along with 30-40 different commodities year-round. You can find Frecker Farms products at select wholesale distributors and at farmers markets in LA, Ventura, and Santa Barbara County.

The Farm Cart

Jason and Katie Lesh are well known for their local Carp business, The Farm Cart. They have also been working their own small farm, raising chickens, and using bio-dynamic farming practices in the fields to produce some of the best fruits and vegetables. They also outsource other local farms for a variety of produce at their Farm Cart. Stop by to visit The Farm Cart at 5103 Carpinteria Ave. Carpinteria, CA 93013 Monday, Tuesday, Friday 11:30-Sunset, Saturday & Sunday 10-4.

More to come....

We will continue to update this section as we extend our reach.