The Growing Club | SGV →

The Growing Club, based in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles, gathers diverse individuals and communities together to nourish the common well being of people and our planet.

Join our group of pro-activists as we revive the power of people’s hands to weave humanity into nature’s web of generosity. Learn and explore with us as we bring health and resilience back to our urban ecosystem, as we ground our community in healthy soil, nutritious food, and human connection. Come meet us for one of our upcoming hands-on workshops, watch a few of our popular educational & how-to videos, visit one our three ecological demonstration gardens, or apply for LA’s only Urban Farmer Training Program.

Local Roots Farms | Vernon, CA →

We design, build, deploy and operate the world’s most productive indoor farming solutions. We believe the key to a more sustainable future requires eliminating supply-chain risks and undoing the commoditization of the food industry. That’s why our Local Roots Family is building a distributed network of cutting-edge farms throughout the world to grow the freshest, healthiest food possible.

Farm Fresh To You →

Get an organic farm box delivered to your door. We bring the season’s best mix of organic produce and specialty farm products conveniently to your door by growing and partnering with local farms and artisans in your area. Each delivery comes with farm news and recipes!

"Our hope is that the price Americans pay for food will someday reflect the real cost of producing it: the stewardship required to make sure that the land will remain fertile and productive, the health and benefits necessary to maintain an active labor force, a strong rural community, and a profit margin that will provide the incentive for people like us to spend every waking moment producing food and fiber for the rest."

- KATHLEEN BARSOTTI

Drake Family Farms | Ontario, CA →

Drake Family Farms cheeses are both “farmstead” and “artisan”. “Farmstead” means made on the farm with milk exclusively from the farm’s own animals. According to the American Cheese Society, the word “artisan or artisanal” implies that a cheese is produced primarily by hand, in small batches, with particular attention paid to the tradition of the cheese maker’s art, and thus using as little mechanization as possible in the production of the cheese.

The secret to making the best cheese is to use only the highest quality milk. The best quality milk comes from happy healthy goats. Dan Drake is a veterinarian who has been overseeing the health of the Drake Family Farms goat herd for the past 26 years. Dan brought 143 goats from the farm in Utah to start his farm of happy Southern California Goats. All the goats have names and are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association. We love our goats and give them a very high standard of care. Goats are like dogs with individual personalities and we consider every goat a pet. The herd consists of Nubian, Saanen, Alpine, and Snubian Goats. (Snubians are a hybrid cross between Saanen and Nubians).

We are currently producing fresh chevre at the farm. We use the finest French cultures and it is incubated for twelve hours and then drained in bags to give it a wonderful smooth texture and taste. We package our chevre in tubs which make great storage containers so you can eat a little bit of it and snap the lid on to keep it fresh for the next day. Our chevre tubs can be frozen and thawed in the fridge when you need cheese. We recommend everyone have a few tubs in the freezer in case you have a goat cheese emergency! We also produce specialty cheeses at the farm which you can read about in the “About Our Cheese” section.

Pico Union Project →

Our Vision

The Pico Union Project is dedicated to the Jewish principle to “love your neighbor as yourself.” It elevates this teaching into practice in a historic building by bringing diverse cultures together through song, story, art, food and prayer. Pico Union Project is a multi-faith cultural arts center and house of worship founded in 2013 by visionary recording artist, composer and musician Craig Taubman. Pico Union Project aims to help invigorate the community of Los Angeles and reflect the Jewish value of being a light to all nations.

Vida Sana Farmers Market
2nd and 4th Thursdays 2:30-4:00pm

Come volunteer at our bi-monthly Vida Sana Farmers Market and help out with the activities, workshops, and produce distribution. All are welcome. 2:00 PM call time for all volunteers!

Click here to sign up as a volunteer.

The Ron Finley Project →

BRINGING CULTURE & COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Ron envisions a world where gardening is gangsta, where cool kids know their nutrition and where communities embrace the act of growing, knowing and sharing the best of the earth’s fresh-grown food.

Ron is realizing his vision for community gardening and rejuvenation. Let’s grow this seed of urban gangsta gardening into a school of nourishment and change. Help spread his dream of edible gardens, one city at a time.

It’s time for Americans to learn to transform food deserts to food forests. Help them learn to regenerate their lands into creative business models. Let’s make Ron’s philosophy mushroom across the country, and the world.

In part of this effort, Ron is planning to build an urban garden in South Central LA that will serve as an example of a well-balanced, fruit-and-veggie oasis  called “HQ”. Inspired by the idea of turning unused space such as parkways and vacant lots into fruitful endeavors, this garden and gathering place will be a community hub, where people learn about nutrition and join together to plant, work and unwind.

HQ will create a myriad of jobs for local residents, and this plot of land will be a self-sufficient ecosystem of gardening, education, cooking, business learning and management. The community will get their hands dirty together, shovel together, work together and be healthy together.

Moonwater Farm | Compton, CA →

Moonwater Farm is an urban microfarm in Compton, CA, providing access for youth and residents of South Los Angeles to organic farming, livestock raising and healthy food preparation and preservation. We are interested in re-establishing connections to homesteading history and developing opportunities for learning, training and potentially employment in the food systems of Los Angeles.

We invite you to come visit! Teachers or families - we offer workshops on a wide range of subject matter that creates hands-on opportunities, engaging learners of any age. We do farm tours that focus on practical food growing, making and preserving as well as livestock care and maintenance. Use our contact page to reach out and plan your field trip.

Veteran Farmers of America →

Veteran Farmers of America or “VFA” is an organization that connects veterans to agriculture in many ways. One way we introduce veterans to farming is by providing paid internships at a variety of the nation’s leaders in agriculture. Future programs are to include a veteran-operated farm and a scholarship program. VFA was founded to help veterans with the transition from active duty to civilian life. Our hope is to help veterans heal, reintegrate, and become productive members of society. The benefit to the veterans will be helping them transition from protecting their country to providing their fellow Americans with food, which will undoubtedly continue to give them a sense of contribution and fulfillment.

Farming will offer veterans the opportunity to continue their quest and substantial desire to give back, which we hope will improve their emotional wellbeing. Veterans are 1% of the population, but represent 20% of the suicide rate in America. Military families will benefit greatly by being part of a team of professionals dedicated to safely and sustainably producing the crops that feed America. The farms will benefit as veteran recruits will help solve the current labor shortage. The benefit to the farmers will be finding employees who are accustomed to working in austere conditions for long periods of time. Farming is not only fulfilling; it is hard physical labor and veterans are up for the challenge. We hope to fight the increase in veteran unemployment and suicide. With the support of the community, veteran Farmers of America can change lives.

Shemesh Organic Farm | Malibu, CA

At the Shemesh Organic Farm, we teach about the connection between Judaism, Israel, nature, and agriculture through hands-on organic farming, gardening, harvesting, and composting. The farm is also model for Jewish social and environmental responsibility – the harvested fruits and vegetables are used in our outdoor cooking workshops, as ingredients in meals in our dining hall, and donated to SOVA, the kosher food pantry.

The farm consists of:

• Marla Bennett Israel Discovery Center & Garden
• Gan Aya Farming Center
• Pinat Chai Animal & Horse Center
• The new Big Jewish Tent Five Acre Farming Center

Throughout the year, the Shemesh Organic Farm is open to the community for field trips and retreats. During the summer, hundreds of Camp JCA Shalom campers enjoy the farm experience. To read more about our farm, please click here.

To read Marla’s story and a full description of activities available at the garden, please click here.

To donate to the Marla Bennett Israel Discovery Center and Garden please click here »

To book your field trip or service day or for more info please contact Bill Kaplan at (818) 889-5500 ext. 108 or e-mail bill@shalominstitute.com.

"One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.” Honi then asked the man, “And do you think you will live another seventy years and eat the fruit of this tree? “The man answered, “Perhaps not. However, when I was born into this world, I found many carob trees planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me, I am planting trees for my children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees.”

Social Justice Learning Institute →

At the Social Justice Learning Institute, we are dedicated to improving the education, health, and well being of youth and communities of color by empowering them to enact social change through research, training, and community mobilization.

We envision communities where education empowers individuals to use their agency for the purpose of improving each other’s lives.

SJLI Core Values

1. We privilege the ideas, voice, and leadership of our youth and community members.
2. Everyone must be afforded equal opportunity in order to achieve equitable treatment.
3. We do all things in love.
4. No one is hopeless.

Our Goals

Our goals are simple. We work to:

• build capacity for individuals and communities to advocate for their needs
• train and build leaders
• educate and empower youth and community members to identify and rectify injustice; and to
• deliver effective programs, resources and support that help advance our mission

To meet these goals, we work with youth, residents, local schools, districts and city officials to increase educational opportunities through innovative programs and sustainable practices. We also develop and manage programs that advance academic, food, and environmental justice.

RootDown LA →

RootDown LA is a youth-run non-profit committed to bringing better food & nutrition education to neighborhoods in South L.A.

At RootDown LA, we believe supplying a community with healthy food is not enough to help residents make sustainable dietary changes. Without a genuine demand for that healthy food and a population of people who can reinforce demand over time, our efforts to maintain a supply fall flat.

Luckily, in 2007, a group of highly-motivated youth living in South L.A. got serious about improving nutrition programs for their families and peers. Not long after, RootDown LA was born. With these youth at the forefront of our engaging programs and strategically located veggie gardens, we've successfully developed a model that has convinced thousands of people in South L.A. (and beyond!) they'll wanna eat their veggies!

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust →

Our mission is to grow healthier, safer, and stronger communities by creating urban parks and community gardens that remedy the critical lack of green and recreational spaces in greater Los Angeles' underserved neighborhoods.

The Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust was founded in 2002 to address LA's park inequities. We focus our efforts exclusively in communities of color that have little to no access to green space.

Less than one acre of green space is available for every 1,000 residents in the communities we serve. In stark contrast, the citywide average is over four acres and the countywide average is over three acres. For 15 years we have aimed to change this dynamic and have added nearly eight acres of accessible green space to LA by helping create 25 parks and gardens. These neighborhood assets serve 195,000 Angelenos annually. By 2019, we will complete five additional parks and gardens, adding nearly 15 additional acres of green space to LA County.

Our successful greenspace development model engages residents from the beginning of our design process, through construction and ultimately the stewardship of the parks and gardens we create. To ensure the long-term impact of our efforts, we are working towards equitable greenspace development in LA through grassroots policy reform.

American Community Garden Association →

The Mission of the American Community Gardening Association is to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada.

The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) is a bi-national nonprofit membership organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities. The Association recognizes that community gardening improves people’s quality of life by providing a catalyst for neighborhood and community development, stimulating social interaction, encouraging self-reliance, beautifying neighborhoods, producing nutritious food, reducing family food budgets, conserving resources and creating opportunities for recreation, exercise, therapy and education.

ACGA and its member organizations work to promote and support all aspects of community food and ornamental gardening, urban forestry, preservation and management of open space, and integrated planning and management of developing urban and rural lands.

The Association supports community gardening by facilitating the formation and expansion of state and regional community gardening networks; developing resources in support of community gardening; and, encouraging research and conducting educational programs.

Garden School Foundation →

The Garden School Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to provide meaningful education for underserved youth in Los Angeles through garden-based learning in outdoor living classrooms. We work with Title 1 schools to sustainably implement our curriculum of experiential standards-based lessons in all academic subjects, as well as cooking and nutrition, to strengthen the connection between education, health, environmental awareness, and thriving communities.

Since 2005, we’ve been turning asphalt into ecosystems, working to create a healthy, educated and aware future generation that cares for their community, their bodies and for the earth. We currently serve at 6 elementary schools and one high school throughout Los Angeles, reaching over 2,500 students and their families. Our Seed to Table program brings to life what’s taught in the classroom and gives children the tools they need to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Earthworks Farm | El Monte →

Earthworks Farm is a 4.9-acre work-training and educational urban farm located in the beautiful Whittier Narrows Recreational Area, next to South El Monte, and east of downtown Los Angeles. Earthworks Farm facilitates multiple education programs benefitting the surrounding communities.

These programs include workshops in organic farming, farm-to-school education, Harvest Tours, CSA, Farm-to-Table and volunteer opportunities. Earthworks Farm uses organic farming practices and grows a diverse array of crops.

Earthworks Farm is a San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps (SGVCC) program, and provides to local, disadvantaged youth through the Healthy Harvesters program hands-on work skills and job training in organic farming. Furthermore, Earthworks Farm strives to reach out to local schools and community places to teach on-site organic farming practices.

The mission of Earthworks Farm is to grow organic produce, promote local and sustainable agriculture, teach organic farming to community members and support a lifestyle of healthy eating and active living.

Earthworks Farm encourages healthy relationships between people, their food supply, and the land from which it grows. Hence, ongoing educational programs and volunteer opportunities are provided to fellow gardeners to learn more about basic organic farming practices.

Food Forward →

Food Forward rescues fresh local produce that would otherwise go to waste, connecting this abundance with people in need, and inspiring others to do the same.

How We Do It:

We collect fresh fruits and vegetables that would normally go to waste from backyard fruit trees, public orchards, farmers markets, and the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market. 100% of the produce we recover is donated to hunger relief agencies across 8 counties in Southern California.

Why We Do It:

According to the NRDC, up to 40% of food in the United States is wasted. At the same time, 1 in 6 individuals lack adequate access to food. Food Forward presents a simple solution to this disparity by connecting surplus produce with the food insecure people in our communities.

Mott Street Urban Farm | Boyle Heights →

Urban farm located in Boyle Heights with the mission to provide produce to non-profits and the local community.

UC Cooperative Extension - Master Gardener Hotline →

Since 1981, the University of California Master Gardener Program has been extending UC research-based information about home horticulture and pest management to the public. The UC Master Gardener Program is a public service and outreach program under the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, administered locally by participating UC Cooperative Extension county offices.

The UC Master Gardener Program is an example of an effective partnership between the University of California and passionate volunteers. In exchange for training from the University, UC Master Gardeners offer volunteer services and outreach to the general public in more than 50 California counties. Last year 6,116 active UC Master Gardener volunteers donated 398,265 hours, and 5.4+ million hours have been donated since the program's inception.

Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA) →

SEE-LA’s mission is to build sustainable food systems and promote social and cultural activities that benefit both low-to-moderate income residents of Los Angeles while also supporting California small- and mid-sized farms and local small businesses

Besides our incredible Farmers Markets, SEE-LA keeps Los Angeles healthy by offering and coordinating many programs that enrich lifestyles, help the community and enhance our mission. We are dedicated to improving access to fresh, healthy foods by way of CalFresh EBT, the WIC program and Market Match. Children across Los Angeles benefit from our Bring the Farmer to Your Schoolprogram, in which local California farmers have provided engaging sessions to schools for over 15 years.  Our commitment to community enrichment is extended through our Pompea Smith Good Cooking Buena Cocina Nutrition Education Program, where we offer nutrition education, cooking demonstrations and much more.  For a complete overview and more details, please visit our Programs Page.

LA Compost →

L.A. Compost began in 2013 with the collective efforts of volunteers, friends and family. In the beginning, we were a food waste diversion service. Food scraps, leaves, paper, and almost any organic material were collected from 4 different cities. Our collection crew rode bikes with trailers that allowed them the ability to haul this material from restaurants, homes, schools, and apartments, to local created compost centers.

These compost centers were often found in the back yards of community-supporters’ homes. Within a span of 5 months our 15 plus riders diverted over 30,000 pounds of organic material from landfills and converted it into usable compost. The compost was sold and given away at local farmers markets. With the generated income from sales, we built an edible garden in one of the cities where we were collecting. Our work was featured in the LA Times as well as other local publications.

In 2014 LA Compost shifted its focus from bike-collections to creating local compost hubs. We wanted communities to see how far their organic material was traveling and the harmful effects it had on the environment. By keeping organic material in the same zip code where the food was originally consumed, the finished compost stayed within the community and supported their growing efforts.

We now have 8 community compost hubs all throughout L.A. County. These hubs range from schools, museums, and community gardens. Each hub reflects the community in which it’s located but they all serve the same purpose. They keep organics in the community and they create a shared space where individuals can come together to learn and ultimately be a part of something bigger than their individual self.