Our Work
The Local Food Economy 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.
Collaboration & Learning
We nurture spaces for collaboration and shared learning among local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners.
We host Workshops & Events in partnership with others who are aligned in the movement to foster greater community wealth and a more just local food economy.
We also host a listserv called Rhizome to support connections and relationship-building across the local food community.
Business Stewardship & Coaching
We support local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners with holistic business stewardship and coaching services.
Through Pollinator, our tailored business planning and coaching program, and our informal general business coaching services, we connect small-scale food and farm businesses with values-aligned consultants and resources to support overall health and sustainability.
We also curate Resource Libraries, including a Consultant Directory, to support local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners.
Cooperative Development
We work to build a culture of cooperation in San Diego County. In partnership with others, we are nurturing the development of a holistic ecosystem that supports more producer and worker cooperatives as well as other community wealth-building economic models in our region.
We host Cooperative Development Workshops for our local food and farm community and curate essential resources in our Cooperative Development Resource Library.
Land Tenure & Stewardship
We expand community access to land and work to secure equitable land tenure for Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color.
Through our Land Tenure & Stewardship Initiative, we commit to ensuring the ecological, cultural, and spiritual stewardship of ancestral lands, and doing this work in a way that honors traditional ecological knowledge and Tribal Nations in our region.
Community Capital
We mobilize capital for local farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners in our region.
We curate community capital resources, including our Lender Directory, Grants Directory, and Community Capital Glossary, and provide technical support for individuals, organizations, and businesses seeking debt, debt-free, and integrated capital.
We also facilitate a Lending Partnership with the Center for Economic Opportunity, and design and manage Community Funds.
