“At that time there were no farmers’ markets, farm stands, or community gardens [in Southeast San Diego],” Moss says.
Outdated zoning made urban gardening difficult in Southeast San Diego, despite plentiful vacant lots and interest from the community. In 2011, Project New Village secured approval to start the Mt. Hope Community Garden on a third of an acre, leased from the city. Its 40 beds flourished, becoming an inspiration for civic change: In 2012, San Diego’s Development Services Department instituted urban agriculture reforms to make small-scale farming more feasible, relaxing rules for raising livestock, starting and operating community gardens and selling produce grown on-site.
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However, those reforms didn’t protect the garden when its lease ended in 2019, and the city put its land up for sale to align with evolving state laws to address the housing crisis. The Mt. Hope parcel was legally classified as surplus property, not a community asset, which the reforms would have safeguarded. The group managed to secure a loan from the nonprofit Conservation Fund in the nick of time, and outbid developers.
Owning the garden brought stability and fueled new initiatives. The group purchased the produce truck with state and private funds. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants supported farmers’ market promotion, and a 2023 Alliance Healthcare Foundation grant contributed $2 million toward building a market — a cornerstone of the planned food hub.
In 2024, San Diego State University researchers who evaluated how these efforts were impacting food security noted that the produce truck “is beginning to address food apartheid to promote health equity.”
An underserved community
Project New Village’s work is increasingly urgent. Food insecurity affects 26 percent of San Diego County residents, comparable to pandemic levels. In Southeast San Diego, where Project New Village operates, the numbers are higher because the poverty rate is up to three times the county average. This area also has the county’s highest enrollment for CalFresh, California’s version of SNAP.
Many people in this majority Black and Latinx area live more than a mile from a supermarket, and most small stores lack fresh produce and healthy food. But don’t call Southeast San Diego a food desert. The term “food apartheid” more precisely captures what’s missing: land ownership and capital.
San Diego County has the nation’s highest concentration of farms, with more than 5,000 operations, 69 percent of which are small — between one and nine acres — and located mostly in the unincorporated inland and northern parts of the county. It is a top producer of nursery products, floriculture and avocados.
Things look much different in Southeast San Diego. In the early 20th century, racially restrictive covenants concentrated non‑white residents in Southeast San Diego, and redlining denied them federal mortgage loans to buy land and build wealth. Many families once farmed small plots, but as suburbs grew and land values rose, the foodscape hollowed out, a casualty of development.
Now, federal cuts under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill have deepened nutrition insecurity, slashing programs like SNAP, which had contributed most of the food aid in San Diego (for every meal provided by the Feeding America charitable network, SNAP supplied nine). The cuts total roughly $300 million per year for San Diego nonprofits and safety‑net programs, putting 100,000 San Diegans at risk of losing food assistance.
To help offset the cuts, private funders led by the San Diego Foundation awarded more than $2.5 million to programs that provide resources such as medically tailored meals and weekend food kits. Project New Village was able to use $250,000 of this aid for operating its mobile farmers’ market. The nonprofit is otherwise less dependent on federal dollars, powering through with a mix of philanthropic funders, state and city grants, and community‑based donors.
The EFOD model
The Mt. Hope Community Garden, mobile farmers’ market, backyard growers’ network and future food hub form what Project New Village calls the Good Food District.
The nonprofit is building this community‑owned economic engine through Equitable Food Oriented Development, which focuses on reparative wealth building rather than maximizing investor profit.
A rendering of The Village, a $10 million project that will integrate the Mt. Hope Community Garden and include a fresh‑food marketplace, prepared‑food vendor stalls, a commercial kitchen and a community gathering space. Credit: MW Steele Group
The EFOD strategy was formalized in 2019 by a collaborative of nonprofits across the country that had spent decades working to give their communities a say in their food systems, with support from DAISA, an equity-focused consulting firm, and the Kresge Foundation. To date, the collaborative has funded more than 40 BIPOC‑led food and agriculture projects, including the Detroit Food Commons, a national model for community‑owned retail, and El Depa, in Puerto Rico, which advances seed sovereignty and agroecology.
San Diego has few community‑wealth models, according to the San Diego Food System Alliance (SDFSA), a sustainable food nonprofit and Project New Village partner. There are too many barriers, including zoning limits, redevelopment pressure and sky-high land costs. Cheaper lots often lack water, accessibility and other features that would make them suitable EFOD candidates.
“Land is the foundation,” says Sona Desai, SDFSA co‑executive director. The organization is developing the county’s first agricultural land trust to help underserved growers secure land.
Project New Village applied for and received an EFOD designation in 2021 and remains the only EFOD organization in San Diego. Membership is highly selective. While designation doesn’t guarantee funding, it opens access to capital designed for community‑owned, non‑extractive food‑system work and strengthens eligibility for other public and private dollars. EFOD is backed by philanthropic, affordable-lending and community‑investment partners, which still includes the Kresge Foundation.
With a public market, commercial kitchen, healthy food vendors and event space, The Village will bring the kind of amenities to Southeast San Diego that many communities take for granted.
“The Village project brings food dignity to a community lacking in neighborhood healthy food choices,” says Ami Young, a resident who shops at the produce truck and prioritizes local and organic food.
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Most pre‑development milestones for The Village are complete, and the team is awaiting city approval of construction permits. EFOD funds supported early consulting work; now a capital campaign is underway to secure the remaining $4 million for construction and operations. Meanwhile, the garden, where it all began, along with the mobile farmers’ market truck and backyard growers’ network, will continue its important work.
When you ask Moss about the challenge of overcoming the funding gap, her answer is calm. Project New Village plans to pursue public and private grants and equity loans, Moss explains, while further cultivating its donor base.
“If needed, we can approach the construction in phases, and the timeline would need to be adjusted,” she says. “Ours has been a journey of small miracles, and we can see the finish line.”