A New Intitative for Sustainable Farming
Help San Diego Create a
Sustainable Farm & Education Center!
Join the citizens and organizations of San Diego who are coming together to create a sustainable organic farm, educational center and wildlife preserve just outside the city’s sprawl.
Working Name: The Willow Glen Farm & Education Center
The vision: Create a local, organic, educational farm; support ecologically sustainable agriculture; offer community members the opportunity to connect with food sources and learn how to grow their own food; promote personal well-being.
The place: a scenic river watershed in an area near the urban core of San Diego.
The search for property: For the past year we've been in negotiations on a piece of property along the Sweetwater River in Rancho San Diego. We've decided to broaden our search to look for other available farmlands to purchase rather than wait for a workable deal to develop on this one property. See below for our search criteria.
Click here to visit the Farm Blog Listen to the many voices of those working to create Willow Glen Farm. Insight, personal stories, recipes, motivations and more.
Donate to support Willow Glen Farm
& Education Center
Click on the Donate button below to send us your tax-deductible donation for the project.
Or send a check to:
San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project
PO Box 33285, San Diego, California 92163
Make checks payable to BCLT. Your donation will be processed by the Back Country Land Trust, our 501(c)3 non-profit fiscal sponsor and be used to support our efforts to purchase the land and begin farming.
Thanks!
Help us find our farm!
Organic Farm and Educational Center Property Criteria
Roots is actively looking for a piece of property that ideally meets the following criteria:
- Zoned for agricultural use and has already been farmed, so as not to disturb existing native vegetation.
- Good quality soil, perhaps river valley or flood plain.
- Wells to a water source of good quality and long-term viability
- Four to six acres in size. Useable buildings on the property would be a plus.
- A short distance (30–45 minute drive) from metropolitan San Diego to maximize the market for school field trips. Public transportation access would be a tremendous plus.
- Elevation of 2,000 feet or less for maximum growing season and productivity.
- Some native vegetation, especially oak trees.
- Donation of land, or low-cost long-term lease.
The plan:
- Organic farm practicing sustainable agriculture
- Training center for future organic farmers
- Ecological destination for school trips
- Classes for the community, such as home gardening,
composting and cooking - Wildlife habitat preserve along the Sweetwater River
- Organic resource center for all of San Diego
San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project was originally formed to try to save Good Faith Farm in Jamul from development. When Good Faith lost its lease and was forced to shut down, the local community felt the loss—no more school field trips and no more weekly organic vegetable deliveries. The San Diego Roots farm and education center promises to fill this gap and offer new educational opportunities for students from elementary school to college and families from across San Diego County.
Why are local farms important? 
Rising land values and pressure from housing development in southern California have made it increasingly difficult for small farms to survive. Yet access to quality local food is crucial to the health and well-being of our communities. Food now comes from farther and farther away—1500 miles on average—strung out on a tenuous food distribution system dependent on cheap oil.
This long-distance transportation chain requires that food be picked before the development of the best flavor and nutrition, refrigerated for days or weeks and shipped from grower to packer to distribution center to centralized warehouses and, finally, to your local market. This system has been called the agriculture-industrial complex, and it views food as merely a commodity.
Locally grown food is different. Fruits and vegetables are grown with taste in mind and picked when deliciously ripe and ready for eating, not for shipping. When you buy from a local farmer, nearly all the 
money ends up in his or her pocket, rather than going to middlemen or distributors. Most farms in San Diego are family-owned, and those families, in turn, spend their money in our community.
San Diego has an ideal climate, suitable for growing food year-round, yet our local farms are disappearing at an alarming rate. To ensure quality of life in our area for generations to come, we must make preserving local farms a priority and share the knowledge of food production far and wide.
A broad-based grassroots effort
The list of collaborators is growing. Along with San Diego Roots, Ocean Beach Peoples Co-op and the San Diego Natural History Museum, other community organizations are ready to participate. Professors at a local community college are exploring curriculum and certificate possibilities for future farmer education. The museum will offer field trips, classes, and lectures at the farm. As the project moves forward, the planning team will continue to bring together organizations and individuals who share the dream of creating a local, organic, educational farm.
Project Structure
Though details are still being worked out, some of our ideas are:
- Non-profit structure. The farm will be purchased by San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project from funds raised by community contributions and grants. The title will be held by the non-profit, which will also operate the educational function of the farm. We intend to place the farmable areas under an agricultural easement and the riparian areas into a habitat-preservation easement, securing their status for future generations.
- Separate ownership of the land from the business of the farm. As land prices have skyrocketed, it has become increasingly difficult for farmers to afford to farm. This was the main reason we lost Good Faith Farm. By removing the land burden from the farmer’s shoulders and sharing it non-speculatively across the community, we will be able to secure one local farm in perpetuity.
- Farm management. A management team will interview, hire and review one or more farmers, though the team will not interfere with the operation of the farm unless there are critical problems. The farmer will be supported from initial project funds for two years during the startup phase, after which they need to support farm costs from the sale of produce as a for-profit business. We have existing contacts in the community with restaurants, farmer’s markets, retail markets and others in which to sell the produce grown.
- Future farmer education is key. Farm interns will be able to apprentice at the farm in exchange for college credits. The farm will host field trips for local schools. The farmer, the management team, and the community will work jointly to foster sustainable farm education.
- Building Green. Currently there are no buildings on the land. A farmhouse/education center on the property is being planned using green building practices.
What can you do?
If you would like to be involved or have money or resources to donate, skills or connections to offer, please contact us at
Project Partners
