ALMA Backyard Farms

PBS SoCal wrote a feature on ALMA's Peas in a Pod program. Henry Barjas writes about how ALMA teaches kids about Urban Farming.

KCAL9 & CBS2 news interviews ALMA's co-founder, Richard D. Garcia about how nothing goes to waste on the farm in Compton.

Spectrum News shows viewers around ALMA's Compton farm site and discusses the mission with the ALMA team.

ABC News covers the history of agriculture in Los Angeles and features our urban farm in Compton.

How food sovereignty and resilient food systems put the future in our own hands.

In this episode, we talk to Richard Garcia, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Alma Backyard Farms, about his calling to work with communities and formerly incarcerated people to set up urban gardens. 

Alma Backyard Farms les da una segunda oportunidad a través del trabajo en la tierra

To capture the essence of Natural American Goodness, Mountain Valley Spring Water visited with ALMA and one of our chef partners, Steve Samson of Rossoblu.

We are thrilled to have a cameo on the second season of Life & Thyme's The Migrant Kitchen.  The episode features Chef Diep of Good Dinette, a chef who sources seasonal veggies from our urban farms.

In his long-sleeve waffle shirt, dark roughed-up work pants and scuffed brown leather boots, Rich Garcia moves carefully among rows of vegetables. His canvas hat tilted to the side, and a thin red scapular hanging around his neck completes his farming uniform. His hands are dirty in a way that can come only from a long day of manual labor, with layers of white, dried dirt beneath fresh stains from wet soil.

“Re-claim lives. Re-purpose land. Re-imagine community.” That’s the motto of Alma Backyard Farms, an East L.A. non-profit that teaches recently released prisoners to grow, harvest and market local produce.

PBS SoCal included ALMA on their list of places for families to visit in Compton. 

Jennifer Marquez discusses ALMA's opening in San Pedro with Co-founder, Richard D. Garcia.

The Food and Faith Podcast brings together voices of hope who are working for a world of organic connections. On this episode, ALMA's Co-founders, Erika L. Cuellar and Richard D. Garcia partake in a conversation from the soil and around the table. 

Hosted by Amplify RJ founder David Ryan Barcega Castro-Harris,  Restorative Justice Practitioners, Circle Keepers, and others discuss how they bring Restorative Justice philosophy, practices, and values into their personal and professional lives.

Selena teams up with the godfather of the modern food truck movement, Roy Choi, to make some dangerously delicious Korean BBQ breakfast tacos. At the end of the episode, ALMA gets recognized for its work! Episode 4 is available on HBO Max. Free trial available. 

Los propietarios de ALMA prepararon cerca de 200 bolsas repletas de alimentos frescos que fueron entregadas a las familias más necesitadas del área

Richard D. Garcia, Co-founder and Executive Director of ALMA speaks with Madeleine Brand of KCRW's Press Play about the role local farms are playing during the coronavirus pandemic.

VoyageLA is a group of magazines that publishes interviews with local community members, businesses, organizations, and artists. 

Q & A: Can urban farming combat food waste?  Chatting with the founders of Alma Backyard Farms

Alma Backyard Farms accompanies the formerly incarcerated as they journey through the wilderness of urban life post-incarceration.

ALMA Backyard Farms is an urban farm in Compton, CA, founded by two LMU alumni, Erika L. Cuellar and Richard D. Garcia, that focuses on restorative justice and environmental stewardship. Have you ever wondered what a chocolate lightning tomato tasted like?

Dickies partnered with ALMA for their Good Works Story and 100 year anniversary campaign.

KCRW provides listeners with local news, public health information, music for your spirit, and cultural connection. ALMA's Co-founder, Richard D. Garcia, discusses farming with youth and the formerly incarcerated to feed the community.

America has a wellness problem. Wellness requires rest, clean water, movement, community, care, and nutrition—things that have become privileges, when they really should be rights. In this episode, Alma's social enterprise associate, Luis Mota, discusses how he is dedicated to bringing wellness to his community.

Mercy For Animals is dedicated to eradicating our cruel food system and replacing it with one that is not just kind to animals but essential for the future of our planet and all who share it. Check out this feature they included of ALMA.

A unique Mother's Day giveaway lifted spirits on Sunday in Rancho Dominguez, where a ALMA provided those special someones with much-needed appreciation.

Erika Cuellar, Co-founder of Alma Backyard Farms, studied education at Loyola Marymount University and didn’t necessarily end up going into a traditional classroom because she worked at Homeboy Industries in the kitchen of Homegirl Café, and now sees the farm as her new classroom.

KCET, a producer of award-winning and diverse original content for public media, and Tastemade, a global media company creating premium video programming in the food, travel and home verticals, premiered a new multi-media series BROKENBREAD, hosted by restaurant entrepreneur, social activist and acclaimed chef Roy Choi. In episode 5, WASTE: Recovery & Possibility, Roy Choi visits ALMA.

“What happens here…it’s church.”

For this week's arts and culture column, I interviewed Erika Cuellar and Richard Garcia, the amazing duo who head up the East L.A. non-profit Alma Backyard Farms.