Social Justice – Project New Village

Episode 9 – Survive & Thrive: Food Justice in the Crosshairs

May 30, 2025

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 9 – Survive & Thrive: Food Justice in the Crosshairs

This special town hall inspired episode was recorded live on May 23, 2025 at the Project New Village office in Southeastern San Diego. Featuring guest speakers and comments from local residents and community leaders, this episode takes a deep dive into understanding the current political and economic realities impacting nonprofits working in the food justice realm. We share a lengthy conversation on the impact of federal funding issues, funding strategies and risk management for food projects, and strategies for navigating uncertainty as we move forward.

Hosted by Anthony Avalos and N. Diane Moss, this episode features a brief presentation by Dr. Derrick Robinson, the UC ANR and UC Cooperative Extension San Diego Urban Agriculture, Food Systems, and Environmental Issues Advisor, and guest speaker Elly Brown, the Co-Executive Director for San Diego Food System Alliance, and Co-Chair of the Community-Centric Fundraising San Diego Chapter (CCF).

Dr. Derrick Robinson

Elly Brown

PROJECT: Good Food now on YouTube

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Episode 8 – Treedom Cooperative: Creating Space to Connect with the Planet

April 22, 2025

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 8 – Treedom Cooperative: Creating Space to Connect with the Planet

In this special Earth Day episode, we have the privilege of speaking with Jordyn Garfein and Christopher De Guzmanof Treedom Cooperative, a San Diego based nonprofit promoting a permaculture style approach to regenerative urban agriculture. Their extensive world travels and knowledge of water harvesting inform their work of transforming spaces into productive ecosystems.

Hosts Brandon S. Johnson and N. Diane Moss share a fascinating conversation that dives deep into Treedom’s mission to empower our community with educational resources and environmentally conscious practices. An Earth Day-worthy episode!

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Environmental Justice Food Sovereignty Podcast Social Justice Uncategorized

Earth Day Celebration April 19th

April 2, 2025

Join us for a special garden gathering that celebrates the community and the planet!

Our Earth Day Celebration will be taking place Saturday, April 19th at Mt. Hope Community Garden from 9am to 1pm. This family friendly event features garden activities, arts & crafts, music, food and drinks, plus we’ll be giving away over 300 fruit and vegetable plants as well as 100 bags of soil! Ready to start that spring garden? WE HAVE YOU COVERED! Please join us in celebrating the planet!

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Environmental Justice Event Food Sovereignty Social Justice Uncategorized

Episode 7: Sovereignty & Solidarity, Protecting the Rights of Food Workers

March 31, 2025

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 7 – Sovereignty & Solidarity – Protecting the Rights of Food Workers

In observance of Cesar Chavez Day, we’re honored to have Todd Walters, President of United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 135, join us as we explore worker’s rights within our food systems. The UFCW Local 135 has a rich history in San Diego, and currently represents over 13,000 workers throughout San Diego and Imperial Counties and consists of workers in various fields that include grocery & retail, meat & sugar processing, and cannabis.

Join hosts Brandon Johnson and N. Diane Moss as we explore what workplace justice really looks like for food workers, and how the growing urban farming market fits into the fight for equity.

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Food Sovereignty Podcast Social Justice Uncategorized

Episode 6: George Washington Carver, Agricultural Waymaker

February 28, 2025

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 6 – George Washington Carver, Agricultural Waymaker

Inventor, painter, pianist, and one of the most prominent black scientists of the early 20th century, George Washington Carver was truly a brilliant man who was ahead of his time. In this episode, hosts Brandon Johnson and N. Diane Moss take a look at the remarkable life of this man and how his incredible ingenuity, work ethic, and dedication to sustainability and being self-sufficient led to over 300 inventions that continue to impact agriculture and farming practices today.

Joining our host are two very special guests: Ian Moreland, Garden Manager and Community Gardening Programs Lead for Project New Village, and Rodney West, Manager of the People’s Produce Mobile Farmers Market. Both men are Master Gardeners in San Diego and are dedicated to urban agriculture and the benefits of producing and consuming fresh, hyper-local foods in our neighborhoods.

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Mardi Gras in the Garden

February 10, 2025

Celebrate Fat Tuesday at the Garden!

Tuesday, March 4th, 6pm to 8pm, Mt. Hope Community Garden

Our annual Mardi Gras in the garden is back! Join us for a festive gathering in the garden celebrating Fat Tuesday and the Mt. Hope Community Garden space! Featuring live music, complimentary beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), delicious food, and New Orleans-inspired dancing and festivities – all in a beautiful nighttime garden setting! Don’t miss this friend-raiser event!

TICKETS - $20

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Environmental Justice Event Food Sovereignty Social Justice

Episode 5: Community Action – Resident Participation in the GFD

January 31, 2025

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 5 – Community Action: Resident Participation in the GFD

What does community participation look like within the Good Food District (GFD)? In utilizing an equitable food-oriented development (EFOD) model, resident-led community action in our local food system is a key component in creating food sovereignty – but what exactly does resident involvement in a food system mean?

In this episode, we highlight community action in the GFD by interviewing residents of Southeastern San Diego to find out how they actively participate in our local food system, and how their journey with good food intersects with Project New Village and the Good Food District.

Hosted by Anthony Avalos, this episode features N. Diane Moss, Francine Maxwell, Roxanne Kilbourne, Lucia Davis, Dolores Johnson, and students from Morse High School.

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MLK Day of Service Jan.18th, 2025

January 3, 2025

Contributing to Dr. King’s Vision of The Beloved Community

January is the time of year for reflection and re-commitment to bringing good into the world. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. popularized the term, “The Beloved Community” during his lifetime of activism. His vision of the Beloved Community was a community in which everyone is cared for, absent of poverty, hunger, and hate.

We at Project New Village embrace his vision in our work. The Good Food District is a community driven effort, developed by Project New Village, a non-profit, serving as the backbone organization for a cross-sector collaboration of partners to do regenerative place making in food insecure neighborhoods in Southeastern San Diego (SESD). The intent of our collective impact is to create food-oriented developments, build upon existing assets and securing needed resources, and to support a strong sense of community and infrastructure for an improved neighborhood-based food system chain.

Project New Village has begun to take steps towards dismantling the historical impact of racism and moving forward with an equitable vision/plan for our community food system. Our goal of improving fresh food access in SESD is part of a broad-based movement to building social equity giving way to healthy neighborhoods.

On Saturday, Jan 18, 2025 from 9am to 12pm Project New Village will host our annual MLK Day of Service at the Mt. Hope Community Garden, 4269 Market Street, San Diego CA 92102. We invite our community to join us for a community workday where we gather to plant seeds of thought and actions for the new year. This is an inclusive event for all ages, featuring cultural expressions and refreshments.

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Episode 4: Defining the Good Food District

December 20, 2024

PROJECT: Good Food

Episode 4 – Defining the Good Food District

This episode takes a deep dive into the definition of the Good Food District – what it represents, understanding the regional impacts, and the importance of placemaking within the context of building food sovereignty in food insecure neighborhoods.

Hosted by Anthony Avalos, this episode features the illustrious N. Diane Moss and an in-depth interview with the ever impressive Sona Desai, the Co-Executive Director at the San Diego Food System Alliance and currently leads the Local Food Economy Lab. For over 25 years, Sona has been part of the movement to build a more sustainable and equitable food system, and is deeply committed to supporting small-scale farmers, especially Black and Brown farmers.

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Celebrating Our North Star

December 2, 2024

2024 FLH CELEBRATION

Join Us At Our Fannie Lou Hamer Legacy Celebration Dec.5th, 2024!

The 13th annual Fannie Lou Hamer Legacy Celebration is the primary fundraising event for Project New Village, and 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of our organization! We’re pulling out all the stops this year, including hosting the event at a new venue – Park & Market downtown. This brand new, modern space is the perfect backdrop for an evening filled with recognition and celebration!

This ticketed event will feature delicious food, drinks, our Food Equity Awards presentation, music, dancing and much more… with 100% of the proceeds going towards our Build The Village campaign!

Buy your tickets now, and reserve your spot at this momentous year-end celebration!

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Our North Star

Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi, the 20th and last child of sharecroppers Lou Ella and James Townsend. She grew up in poverty, but rose from humble beginnings in the Mississippi Delta to become one of the most important, passionate, and powerful voices in the fight for human rights.

Mrs. Hamer succumbed to breast cancer in 1977, but not before leaving behind a legacy of activism that continues to resonate today. It is her legacy that has inspired and informed Project New Village’s current efforts to create an Equitable Food-Oriented Development project in Southeastern San Diego. Modeled after Mrs. Hamer’s Freedom Farm project, The Good Food District is a place-making effort centered on urban agriculture and creating access to healthy locally-sourced good food throughout our neighborhoods.

OUR FUNDRAISING GOAL

We’re Raising $50,000 Towards Building The Village in SESD

100% of the proceeds from this event will go towards building The Village, an innovative community food hub that will be located in Mt. Hope. The Village will forever improve the food landscape in Southeastern San Diego by uplifting hyper-local food growers, improve access to healthy food, and create a community connection to health and wellness through a revitalized food system that benefits all.

Learn More About The Village

Our 2024 Food Equity Awardees

Delicious Food

Enjoy an assortment of delicious, plant-based plates catered by the Morse High School Culinary Program. Featuring locally-sourced produce, this cuisine is sure to impress both in flavor and in the culinary skills of these chefs-in-the-making!

We’re proud to uplift these students in their culinary journeys and to support such a wonderful program and opportunity that Morse High School provides.

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Complimentary Cocktails

We’ll have Tito’s Vodka on hand providing different adult beverage options at their event pop-up bar. Non-alcoholic beverages will also be available at the event.

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Come Celebrate 30 With Us!

Not only is this an important fundraising year for us, but 2024 signifies a very special milestone in our history – the 30th anniversary of our organization! This year represents big changes happening within our organization – we’re acquiring more growing spaces in SESD as part of our Rooted Resources, our People’s Produce Mobile Farmers Market truck is now regularly serving twice as many sites as last year with even more on the horizon, and most notably we began predevelopment on building The Village, which will transform our Mt. Hope Community Garden property into a multi story mixed-use community food hub, the first of it’s kind in Southeastern San Diego!

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