CDFA's Planting Seeds Blog - CDFA Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month 2026: How Daisy Magaña Is Transforming Community Food Access

Daisy Magaña is a Latina micro farmer and the newest member of CDFA’s BIPOC Producer Advisory Committee. She is transforming food access in her rural community, and in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month and the International Year of the Woman Farmer, her work stands as a powerful reminder that farming is not one‑size‑fits‑all, and that anyone can grow fresh food for themselves and their neighbors.

Raised by a powerful single mother in the Central Valley, Daisy describes her early life as shaped by movement, resilience and a deep connection to food. After her father was deported, she and her family moved a lot, eventually settling in the Bay Area. She later attended the University of Redlands, graduating with the familiar question many young adults face: “Now what?”

That uncertainty led her to working with AmeriCorps and a role with City Year in San José’s East Side, serving elementary and middle school students and running free afterschool programs. Through every chapter of her life, one constant remained, a desire to grow food and feed people. What began as a single tomato plant on a balcony grew into a lifelong calling.