{"id":244744,"date":"2026-03-31T08:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/244744\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:32:08","slug":"in-san-diego-creating-community-wealth-through-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/244744\/","title":{"rendered":"In San Diego, Creating Community Wealth Through Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

To help offset the cuts, private funders led by the San Diego Foundation<\/a> 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<\/a> its mobile farmers\u2019 market. The nonprofit is otherwise less dependent on federal dollars, powering through with a mix of philanthropic<\/a> funders, state<\/a> and city<\/a> grants, and community\u2011based<\/a> donors.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A rendering of The Village, a $10 million project that will integrate the Mt. Hope Community Garden and include a fresh\u2011food marketplace, prepared\u2011food vendor stalls, a commercial kitchen, and a community gathering space. (Credit: MW Steele Group)<\/p>\n

The Mt. Hope Community Garden, mobile farmers\u2019 market, backyard growers\u2019 network, and future food hub form what Project New Village calls the Good Food District.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit is building this community\u2011owned economic engine through a strategy called Equitable Food-Oriented Development<\/a>, which focuses on reparative wealth building<\/a> rather than maximizing investor profit.<\/p>\n

The EFOD strategy was formalized in 2019<\/a> 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<\/a>, an equity-focused consulting firm, and the Kresge Foundation<\/a>. To date, the collaborative has funded more than 40 BIPOC\u2011led food and agriculture projects, including the Detroit Food Commons<\/a>, a national model for community\u2011owned retail, and El Depa<\/a>, in Puerto Rico, which advances seed sovereignty and agroecology.<\/p>\n

San Diego has few community\u2011wealth models, according to the San Diego Food System Alliance<\/a> (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<\/a>. Cheaper lots<\/a> often lack water, accessibility, and other features that would make them suitable EFOD candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cLand is the foundation,\u201d says Sona Desai, SDFSA co\u2011executive director. The organization is developing the county\u2019s first agricultural land trust to help underserved growers secure land.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t guarantee funding, it opens access to capital designed for community\u2011owned, non\u2011extractive food\u2011system work and strengthens eligibility for other public and private dollars. EFOD is backed by philanthropic, affordable-lending, and community\u2011investment partners, which still includes the Kresge Foundation.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Village project brings food dignity to a community lacking in neighborhood healthy food choices,\u201d says Ami Young, a resident who shops at the produce truck and prioritizes local and organic food.<\/p>\n

Most pre\u2011development 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\u2019 market truck and backyard growers\u2019 network, will continue its important work.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf needed, we can approach the construction in phases, and the timeline would need to be adjusted,\u201d she says. \u201cOurs has been a journey of small miracles, and we can see the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To help offset the cuts, private funders led by the San Diego Foundation awarded more than $2.5 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-244744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-san-diego","9":"tag-san-diego-headlines","10":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}