Introducing the San Diego Food Justice Project!

The State of California awarded $1 million dollars for our San Diego Food Justice Project, a collaboration between the Economic Development team at City Heights Community Development Corporation (CHCDC), REC Innovation Lab, COOK Alliance, Business For Good (BFG), and Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI).

Together we will support food-focused small business entrepreneurs. Micro-enterprise home kitchen operations (MEKHOs), sidewalk vendors, pop-ups and caterers, and immigrant owned restaurants are all welcome to apply!

The team is working hard to find the first 100 small business applicants with priority focus on marginalized business owners and supporting the entrepreneurship of individuals with limited English proficiency, regardless of immigration or citizenship status.

The SD Food Justice Project is the latest chapter in to our long-term food security efforts in City Heights and beyond. We began advocating for sidewalk food vendors and home cooking businesses many, many years ago, and that advocacy/policy work contributed to us being chosen to implement this funding! It’s not every day that an organization gets to do both policy work and program implementation, and we’re humbled and honored at the opportunity to advance food security on so many levels!

Over the next two years, we will collaborate with like-minded partners to help business owners advance their goals for their business, whether that’s improving on an established business or launching something new. We are thrilled to continue working for food security and food justice in the San Diego region—thanks for the support, and please pass this opportunity/link to small business owners you know who could use the training and funds!