Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the goal ofcultivate!: launching…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the goal ofcultivate!: launching and supporting indigenous, spanish-speaking and underserved beginning farmersis to provide a pathway for beginning farmers, with a focus on underserved indigenous, spanish-speaking hispanic, and other farmers to learn efficient and sustainable farming practices, gain access to land for their farms, develop viable business plans, link to markets to sell their products, and launch commercially and ecologically sustainable small farms that provide for improved quality of life for their families. Outcomes for this project will include: at least 18 new farms for spanish-speaking farmers, and a community farm or farm network for indigenous farmers to address food insecurity within their tribe. The programprovides skill development across 9 core agricultural domains including: safe & sustainable practices, soil science & composting, ecological horticulture, irrigation, integrated pest & pathogen management, regenerative animal agriculture, season extension practices, principles of direct marketing and small farm business planning, and emphasizes 7 tenets of small-scale agriculture including practices that focus on: organic/regenerative; diversified; direct-marketed; incorporation of animals; minimal mechanization; soil-based; amid urban development. The cultivate ! Project, based east of LOS angeles, is founded on a partnership between the five keys schools and programs' ecological agricultural training cultural center (eat!), which has run three apprenticeship cohorts (each one is 900 hours over 10 months), tuition-free, for beginning farmers; the shiishongna tongva nation corona band of gabrieleno indians, which addresses food insecurity by cultivating traditional indigenous plants; gaytan family farms, a successful hispanic family farm that will serve as an inspiration and practical model to hispanic beginning farmers; the city of norco, which is providing land and classroom space for the project, waiving fees for a farmers' market and more; and a collaborator, the riverside food systems alliance.theshiishongna tongva nation corona band of gabrieleno indianshas about 500 enrolled members with an additional 500 people who identify as shiishongna tongva. Tribal leaders say food insecurity is common among their members, many of whom are lower income, and that their community needs to cultivate food sources and medicinal herbs that were traditionally gathered by indigenous californians for both physical, community and spiritual health.