Jobs for the Unhoused through Antelope Valley Urban Farming Social Enterprise

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Located on the periphery of the northernmost region of L.A. County, the Antelope Valley has the highest prevalence of food insecurity throughout L.A. County, according to the Department of Public Health. Our community has long since been considered a food desert where residents have low or limited access to grocery stores or food assistance programs. Fast-food restaurants and neighborhood convenience stores that offer extremely limited healthy food alternatives and tend to feature higher fat foods with refined carbohydrates and sugars are exceedingly prevalent. In communities throughout the Antelope Valley where 1/5 individuals and families live below the poverty line, people struggle to afford healthy food, which is more expensive than processed foods. Furthermore, residents enrolled in the CalFresh program have access to limited nutritious food options and tend to purchase unhealthier options at the myriad of fast-food establishments throughout the Antelope Valley.

Street Company will operate an indoor vertical farm largely by employing unhoused community members in need of employment. We will expand upon our unique and effective approach to breaking the cycle of homelessness in the community through our new indoor farm by providing individuals with training and comprehensive resources to empower them to become self-reliant including access to healthy, affordable food.
Street Company was recently awarded an LA Food Equity Fund $250,000 grant as critical seed funding to purchase one vertical hydroponic farming unit, cover contractor expenses for the buildout planning stages of the space to operate the unit, and one part-time employee to operate the farm. Our current capacity needs to carry out our food equity work through this project are the purchase of an additional indoor vertical farming unit to grow a variety of produce sustainably in the urban setting of the City of Lancaster and the hire of a Project Manager who will be critical to the proper management of all logistics pertaining to the indoor vertical farms and revenue growth of our social enterprise. We plan to sell produce at a significantly discounted rate far below grocery store retail prices to make our quality, fresh produce more accessible to low-income families. We also plan on partnering with a community organization with its own commercial kitchen to prepare healthy meal kits utilizing our fresh produce that will then be delivered regularly to unhoused individuals.

We will become a leader within our city by utilizing our innovative indoor vertical farming system as a sustainable and reliable solution to provide healthy food to the unhoused, while also making healthy food accessible and affordable for low-income individuals and families, and expand our capacity to employ unhoused individuals throughout the Antelope Valley.
Our vertical farming model will become self-sustainable in just one year. In fact, one unit can make up to $150,000/year. We will expand the number of indoor vertical farming units over time to grow our revenue as a fresh produce supplier, supplying produce to local restaurants, farmers markets, and even hospitals. We have an established partnership with Morrison, one of the largest U.S. healthcare food service providers. We anticipate supplying our produce to hospitals throughout L.A County in the future. We also will launch our future cafeteria utilizing our produce to prepare healthy, affordable meals for our local community.

Our General Manager, an individual who has experienced homelessness for almost a decade, and participants will review and provide feedback on potential improvements to work performance, business operations, communication, and the overall working environment. Street Company’s General Manager will meet with the Project Manager monthly to track progress toward the completion of our project goals, objectives, and outcomes reports. We will conduct the following data collection methods: how many families are served through sign-in sheets for every food pick-up or produce purchase on site, how many unhoused individuals have been fed through every meal kit distribution or pick-up, health condition and healthy eating knowledge assessment through community surveys collected monthly from up to 20 regular families who visit Casters Farm, and health condition and healthy eating knowledge assessment through community surveys collected monthly from unhoused participants.