Orange Home Grown was started in 2009 as a grass-roots effort by a group of Orange, California residents. Their main goal was to bring locally grown, nutrient-dense food to their community. With a lot of grit, determination, and collaboration, the Orange Home Grown Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit was born.

 

Over the years, different branches of the Orange Home Grown Foundation have sprouted and come to life. These offshoots have fed the local community with opportunities for education and learning, supported their greater physical and mental health, and facilitated connecting and reconnecting with the earth and local community. 

 

In 2011, Orange Home Grown hosted the first Saturday farmers market on the historic Villa Park Orchards Association packing house lot. To this day, this farmers market serves as an essential food hub for the City and surrounding County, averaging 2,000+ shoppers each week. 

 

The Orange Home Grown Education Farm space established in 2016 has inspired the local community to get back into their gardens and has brought more educational opportunities and awareness around the importance of locally grown food and food systems, while fostering intergenerational interaction. 

 

In 2016 the partnership with the Orange Public Library Foundation has created the convenience of a Seed Lending Library that offers free seeds for the community to use and enjoy, ensuring food security and providing alternatives to genetically modified crops.

 

In 2013, the Foundation began its official scholarship program, which directly supports college level students, or high school seniors entering college, in their quest to reach their educational dreams in the fields of agriculture, food science, animal science, environmental sustainability, or related studies.

 

The Orange Home Grown Youth Food Literacy program, which first began in 2017 takes place in and around the City of Orange and is geared towards providing hands-on learning opportunities to local high school students from the Orange Unified School District (OUSD). 

 

At the core of the Orange Home Grown Foundation is the mission of reconnecting people with where our food comes from, while engaging residents of all ages, ethnicities, and income levels in volunteer opportunities, and celebrating the positive agricultural attributes of Orange and its surrounding cities.