Plant the Vine

This is an urban history initiative that builds social infrastructure by engaging young people in distressed neighborhoods of Los Angeles through planting interpretive vineyards, regenerative farming, the culinary arts, teaching life- and interpersonal skills, entrepreneurship and critical thinking. The program aims to help marginalized youth break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by teaching them about local history, healthy lifestyle choices, and business skills, thereby inspiring them to pursue better opportunities in life.

Plant the Vine uses viticulture to teach LA history and science to underserved high school students. By planting community vineyards of native and historic grapes in parts of the city where vineyards once grew, we use the vineyards to discuss social justice and climate change. The program is designed around a study by grape geneticists from UC Davis in 2012 that revealed a unique chronological sequence of three local grapes–the native, Spanish, and natural 19th-century hybrid of the two.