Our Work
Alliance Programs & Initiatives
Our work directly impacts small-scale farmers, fishermen, food business owners, and communities impacted by inequities in the food system.
We support their viability, guide our region’s long-term outlook, and bring sectors together to collaborate for a more just, resilient food system.
Local Food Economy Lab
The Local Food Economy Lab supports the viability of small-scale farmers, ranchers, fishermen, food business owners, and the communities they serve in San Diego County. Centering equity and community ownership, the Local Food Economy Lab is planting the seeds for a new economy, one built on justice and solidarity.
The Lab nurtures spaces for collaboration and shared learning, provides holistic business stewardship and cooperative development services, and offers support for securing stable and equitable land tenure, capital, and markets.
Local Food Economy Lab Programs
San Diego County Food Vision 2030
For the last five years, the Alliance has been mobilizing our region around San Diego County Food Vision 2030—a shared vision, plan, and movement for transforming our region’s food system over the current decade. With three goals, ten objectives, and detailed strategies to inform policy, program, planning, and investment opportunities, Food Vision 2030 serves as a call to action and political compass as we work together toward a more equitable and resilient future for all.
Food Vision 2030 was published in the Summer of 2021, and is the work of many people. 3,000 residents of San Diego County—a majority of whom have been deeply impacted by inequities—voiced their needs and aspirations for the food system and provided essential input on the Vision.
Today, the Vision serves as a common agenda for our community and is often cited in
The Annual Gathering
The Annual Gathering for San Diego County Food Vision 2030 takes place every fall, featuring inspirational speakers, interactive sessions, open space for dialogue and networking, and local food.
At the Annual Gathering, San Diegans come together and share stories and ideas for how we can invest in our local food economy, preserve agricultural land and soils, elevate wages and working conditions for food and farm workers, increase ownership by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, promote food sovereignty, and more.