Our Mission and History

ALBA's mission is to advance economic viability, social equity and ecological land management among limited-resource and aspiring farmers. ALBA carries out its mission through training, demonstration, technical and marketing assistance, and access to land, at its two bi-lingual education centers in Salinas and Watsonville. ALBA aims to contribute to a more just and sustainable food system.
Serving a primarily Latino audience, ALBA's work is grounded by the belief that in order for limited-resource and aspiring farmers to gain a foothold within California's highly competitive agricultural sector, they must have access to information, capital, and land. ALBA strives to provide an incubator environment of reduced-risk farming and business opportunities.
In safeguarding the tenuous entity that is the family farm, ALBA's mission is carried out by two distinct centers: the Rural Development Center (RDC), located about ten miles south of Salinas; and the Farmer Training and Research Center (FTRC) at the Triple M Ranch, located just south of Watsonville. Our programs offer resources, technical assistance, education, training, and information access to families and individuals who aspire to become independent farmers or improve their existing farming operations. Through these programs, we promote economically viable agricultural production that concurrently protects the environment and provides opportunities to traditionally underserved populations.

ALBA was incorporated as a California 501(c)(3) Corporation, in May 2001, and received its Federal Tax Exempt Status in September 2001. In legal terms, ALBA is a fairly new organization, yet its programs build upon nearly 20years of experience at the RDC.
The Rural Development Center was established by the Association for Community-Based Education (ACBE), a Washington, DC based non-profit organization, in 1985. The RDC has historically served primarily low-income farm worker and migrant families and limited-resource farmers in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. The original purpose of the Center, which applies to this day, is to serve as a training and resource center dedicated to the needs of the migrant and farm worker communities, and the mostly Spanish-speaking or bilingual small-scale farmers in region. It has provided a familiar and non-threatening setting for interactions and learning. It has focused its resources on the improvement of the economic, social and cultural condition of its participants through a range of programs that enhance individual capacity and empower this historically disadvantaged and under-served population. Since its founding, the RDC has assisted more than 400 families in their efforts to achieve greater dignity and some measure of self sufficiency in their pursuit of establishing a family farm.
In 2000, ACBE acquired the Triple M Ranch and set in motion an effort to establish the Farmer Training and Research Center, applying the model of the RDC to established farmers, again providing a reduced-risk environment that allows farmers to receive training and obtain access to certified organic land on which to try new production and management practices, ones that they may otherwise be unable to pursue. Later in 2000, ACBE realized that its programs and constituents would be much better served by a locally controlled, community-based organization. ACBE decided to help establish what would become ALBA, and we were fortunate to have received two farms, in addition to a host of programs to serve its constituents.

Our Dog...

Tomasa was born at the Rural Development Center near Salinas in approximately 1998, and she has been a key presence ever since. We are fortunate to enjoy her company. She gets along very well with the farmers, staff and visitors here, and she manages many unknown aspects of the farm. She has the uncanny ability to remember all people and vehicles, and she alerts us to first-time visitors. She is slowing down a bit in her middle age, but we try to give her glucosamine supplements daily to help with her stiff joints. When not lounging in the sun, she's eager to join farmers or staff for a field inspection or any other group activity on the farm. She is a friendly and loyal companion, and we love her.