The East Valencia Urban Gardens Program serves the East Mesa of Valencia County to encourage greater access to healthy foods, thriving economies, resilience to climate change and conservation of water and soil resources. The EVUGP provides workshops in community teaching gardens, home garden and farm advising, youth learning opportunities and incentives for starting or increasing production of home gardens and farms.
The East Valencia County is a 'food desert' and is an area of concentrated poverty that is underserved. Data collection in 2014 (http://nmcdc.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html) shows that in El Cerro Mission over 31% of children live in poverty and in Meadow Lake over 50% of children. There is a large immigrant population. EVUGP aims to holistically address issues with poverty and food access to conserve soil and water resources.
Identifying conservation needs and developing, implementing, and evaluating programs to meet them; educating and informing landowners and operators, the general public, and local, state, and federal legislators on conservation issues and programs.
2424 Hwy 47