The Good Food District

Photo: Radishes and other vegetables in an open air market in the city, by Caroline Attwood, Wikimedia Commons

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In our work around food justice and food access, we have found that what we eat and where we get our food is a thread that is intimately woven into the fabric of community life. As such, we have come to a point where we see the need for an innovative form of engagement that can positively disrupt many of our typical ways of knowing and doing. This concept is a form of regenerative place-making we call the “Good Food District” (GFD). The Good Food District aims to elevate and integrate urban agriculture as a key component of community revitalization.

The Good Food District is a community driven effort, developed by Project New Village, a non-profit. It serves 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 existing assets, secure needed resources, and support a strong sense of community and infrastructure for an improved neighborhood-based food system chain.

Project New Village has begun to take steps to create 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 build social equity, which gives way to healthy neighborhoods.

Healthy neighborhoods require community-based approaches to wellness, options for nutritious food, economic development, and spaces for community gatherings, organized by and for residents. The Good Food District will provide all of these. By supporting local growers, creating avenues for distribution, and challenging unjust practices, we can dismantle the historical impact of racism, dissuade the negative impact of gentrification, and move forward with an equitable plan for our community food system.

This year, 2024, we have created four new community garden spaces, established a network of 20 backyard gardens / farms in SESD and four additional local farm partnerships that contribute to our mobile farmers market MFM. On average the Peoples’ Produce MFM provides access to nearly 4,000 lbs of local, fresh, fairly priced seasonal produce on a monthly basis   

In 2025, Project New Village anticipates the start of construction for the Village Food Hub on Market Street, and to begin planning for our first public garden in partnership with the city of San Diego. Our Good Food District has emerged from years of hard work, and there ain’t no stopping us now!

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