SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - San Diegans have been fighting for food justice for decades, the Mount Hope Community Garden shows progress is in bloom.
The garden sits on Market Street near the 805 freeway.
"It's a lot of Latin Americans that live around here, a lot of blacks that live around here and we've been hit really really hard," Neighbor Grace Estep said, referring to the pandemic.
In her neighborhood another topic, top of mind is food.
"This is what we're talking about today, making the food come into Southeastern San Diego," Managing Director of Project New Village Diane Moss said during Project New Village's monthly meeting.
Moss's mission is to make food accessible in food deserts like Mt. Hope. She went so far as to change the city's laws to break ground on the Mt. Hope Community Garden back in 2011.
The city owned land almost went up for sale in 2019 and the group was able to take out a loan to buy it. This year the garden got a $35,000 grant from Tito's Vodka.
"Anything that's wooden they paid for it, they helped us put together an apothecary garden," Moss said.
The garden continues to blossom.
"This summer we will have a mobile farmers market. We've commissioned a truck and we're now designing it, customizing it and we want everything on that truck to come from San Diego," Moss said.
Her dream is to build a multi-million dollar market at the garden that would serve as a food hub for the community, bringing farmers and neighbors together. She said they are conducting a feasibility study for funding avenues and are excited to get started.
All of the work to ensure their neighbors always have a full belly.
