Summer 2025 marks four full years of the Alliance operating our Local Food Economy Lab.
Founded in 2021, after the publishing of San Diego County Food Vision 2030, the Lab is a dedicated home for the Alliance’s work supporting the viability of small-scale farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners—as well as the communities they serve in San Diego County.
Transforming How We Live, Not Just How We Eat
The mainstream, U.S. food system has been industrialized and consolidated. Today, food produced through this system harms both people and planet. Dominated by a small group of corporations, this system values profit above all else. It creates distance between producers and consumers, erases biological and cultural diversity essential for resilience, extracts both land and labor, widens the wealth gap, and dispossesses communities of our sovereignty.
Caring for our local food economy = caring for our planet and each other.
When we divest from the industrialized and consolidated food system, and instead, invest in our region’s community-driven, local food economy—we can cultivate justice, fight climate change, and build resilience. Culturally, economically, collectively, and individually.
Providing direct support to small-scale food, farming, and fishing businesses
The Local Food Economy Lab was co-designed with the extensive participation of San Diego County farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners, as well as technical service providers and an ecosystem of supporters. The Lab now provides several direct services to support the viability of this very group.
We currently offer the following programs and services.
Pollinator: Tailored Business Planning & Coaching
Every year, the Lab onboards a cohort of six or more food businesses operating in San Diego County into our Pollinator program. Participants receive highly customized coaching to fit their needs, stage, and scale, and are matched with values-aligned consultants to address specific business challenges. Learn more →
Impact: Since launching, we have supported 26 small-scale farmers, fishermen, and food business owners across four cohorts. In evaluation surveys, all respondents reported gaining new, tangible skills and greater confidence in the long-term viability of their business.
Hear from Pollinator participants on the impact the program had on their businesses
Lending Partnership with the Center for Economic Opportunity
In partnership with IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), the Local Food Economy Lab is offering credit-building ladder loans, microloans up to $50k, and credit education tailored to meet the needs of local farmers, fishermen, and food business owners in our region. Learn more →
Impact: Since establishing the CEO partnership in 2024, the Alliance supported three local farms with securing $12,500 in loans. Five Alliance staff completed training to provide loan readiness technical assistance, credit education, and capital access support for future beneficiaries.
Workshops for Farmers, Fishermen, and Food Businesses
The Lab co-hosts workshops and events in partnership with individuals and organizations aligned in the movement to seed a new local food economy built on justice and solidarity.
Impact: Over the past several years, we held seven workshops with over 200 attendees total. These included Financial Literacy, Introduction to Cooperative Business, Lender Readiness, Farm Bill, Introduction to Worker Co-ops, Introduction to Producer Co-ops, and Advocacy 101 for Food Business Owners.
Watch recordings of past workshops
Online Resource Libraries
The Resource Libraries are directories of vetted resources for supporting people who grow, catch, raise, prepare, distribute, and serve food in San Diego County. Learn more →
Impact: We published 8 Resource Libraries of vetted tools and resources for farmers, fishermen, and food business owners. Libraries include a Consultant Directory, Resources for Farmers, Resources for Fishermen, Resources for Food Business Owners, Cooperative Development Resources, Lender Directory, Grants Directory, and Community Capital Glossary.
The co-design and development of two more transformative programs is currently underway at the Local Food Economy Lab.
Land Tenure & Stewardship Initiative
The Alliance is working to expand community access to land and work to secure equitable land tenure for local farmers—especially Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color. In 2024, the Lab engaged the community in a collaborative effort to develop a strategy for securing equitable land tenure for underserved farmers. This year, we have planted the seeds for an agricultural community land trust to nurture community stewardship of lands and build cooperative economies.
Community Food Fund
The Local Food Economy Lab is working to mobilize funding for local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners in our region, particularly those who have historically been denied resources and financing. In 2024, we secured $700,000 for a Farmer Fund and collaborated on a Healthy Food Financing Partnership for Southern California to create a SoCal Impact Food Fund. Unfortunately, both of these programs are tied to federal funding and have been on hold for 2025. Moving forward, we remain committed to exploring the possibilities for securing additional resources for a Community Food Fund to support our local food economy.
We’ve mobilized $537,500 for local food. And, we impacted nearly 250 farmers, fishermen, and food business owners in San Diego County.
Since launching the Lab, we’ve mobilized nearly $537,500 in coaching, services, equipment, and loans for businesses in our local food economy.
Funding that was promised to sustain and grow the Local Food Economy Lab over the years is in danger.
One of the Alliance’s USDA grants supporting the Lab, the USDA Regional Food Business Center program, was terminated. Another USDA grant supporting the Lab, USDA Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program is at high risk of termination.
We’re looking to our region and our community to invest in the home we love. Invest in our local food economy to invest in each other.