SAN ANTONIO – An historical agreement was signed Friday morning between the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and the San Antonio Food Bank.
The Food Bank will now be allowed to grow produce on the historic grounds. They will use 45 acres as they see fit.
"(We will grow) what we know San Antonio's hungry (population) needs to nourish themselves and their families," said Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank.
Another 5 acres will be maintained as a Spanish Colonial demonstration lands, farming the old fashioned way and growing plants that the natives might have grown while using the asequia irrigation system. The system is essentially a series of ditches dug in different directions to allow water to flow from the San Antonio River to the various fields. The water flow is controlled by cut off panels made of wooden slats.
"We will just be mindful of the historical items," Cooper said.
"It really brings full circle what was happening here in the 1730s when these farm fields were originally designed to feed large numbers of people, some in need," said Tom Castanos, coordinator of Education and Youth Initiatives at the San Antonio Missions.
When it was built in the 1700s, Mission San Juan was a self-sustaining community. Orchards and gardens outside the compound grew melons, pumpkins, grapes and peppers.
"I think today is a wonderful example of what people can do to really, really help other people and at the same time preserve the mission," said the Rev. James Galvin, Mission San Juan Parish.
In full production, the hope is that the farm will yield nearly 500,000 pounds of produce a year.