Cultivating a Green Vision: Huerta del Valle’s Philosophy

Huerta del Valle’s (HdV) vision for the Inland Empire is “one garden every mile.” HdV doesn’t just offer plots for families to grow their own food. Through farmer training and agricultural education programs, HdV empowers communities to create an equitable, local food system in Ontario and beyond. 

As a hub of the warehousing and logistics industry, Ontario deals with air pollution and other environmental hazards. Residents also have limited access to nutritious locally grown food. Huerta del Valle Founder and Director Maria Alonso faced this issue when she was looking for organic produce for her son. Alonso took matters into her own hands by creating a community garden. 

Pitzer College was an important partner in the formation of HdV. In 2010, Professor Susan A. Phillips was directing the community-based academic program Pitzer in Ontario (now known as CASA Pitzer). Phillips and Alonso collaborated with other Pitzer and Ontario community members to develop HdV and establish stable land access for the garden. Pitzer College became Huerta del Valle’s fiscal sponsor until the organization finalized its nonprofit designation. 

Since then, Alonso has overseen HdV as it expands to new garden sites and education programs in sustainability, environmental justice, nutrition, and wellness. In a recent annual report, Alonso said that Huerta del Valle “is a resource to all through our gardens and programs to find personal growth, peace, and love in all aspects of life.”  

Learn more at the Huerta del Valle website.