Eco Center Inc

The Ecology Center models creative solutions for thriving on planet Earth.

Our non-profit organization believes in a culture that gives more than it takes. We believe everyone should have access to the tools, knowledge, and skills that promote healthy communities in the 21st century. Our farm is designed to inspire interaction with our ecosystem and transform our relationship with each other.

The Ecology Center’s headquarters is located in the 140 year old, historic Congdon Farmhouse in San Juan Capistrano, CA. For 15 years, The Ecology Center has successfully served many thousands of children and families; hundreds of progressive educators; and dozens of farmers from Orange County and surrounding areas.

In 2018, the San Juan Capistrano City Council unanimously voted to allow the Center to extend operations from its original 1-acre facility to encompass the city’s entire parcel of 28-acres, granting us both the opportunity and responsibility to become the long-term stewards of the city’s last remaining farmland. This larger lease holding allows the Center to greatly expand its educational offerings and capacity while ensuring the future of organic farming in this region. The Ecology Center then became the first farm to receive the new Regenerative Organic Certification by the ROA. In 2022, The Ecology Center signed a 40 year license agreement with the city, ensuring a legacy of Regenerative Organic Agriculture and a dedicated space for our community to Grow, Eat, and Make for generations to come.

The Ecology Center seeks to provide a blueprint for living abundantly on planet Earth - to explore what it looks, tastes, and feels like when humans live in harmony with nature and one another. We are in business to shift culture. By curating ecological experiences for everyone, we provide creative yet achievable solutions for thriving on planet Earth.

Our culture has become disconnected from our environment and the ecosystems that surround us. It is increasingly harder to know where food comes from, how food is grown, how products are made, or what it means to support a local economy. The Ecology Center aims to reconnect people and our community to our natural ecosystem. To build a thriving, abundant future, our communities need the skills, knowledge, and education to work with nature and not against it.

The challenges our organization aims to solve fall under three main categories.

Environment:
The industrialization of our agricultural systems has brought disease to humans, our planet, waterways, and wildlife. Agricultural practices are among the largest contributors to climate change.

Access:
As a nation, we have never grown more food, yet food and nutritional insecurity are at an all-time high. People are living outside of their relationship to real food, subsisting on chemically processed foods. 9% of people in Orange County are living below the poverty level.

Agriculture:
Our community of farmers are aging and skills are not being handed down intergenerationally. Those who remain in agricultural jobs lack job security and living wages. Large Monocrop farms use extractive practices leading to damage to our waterways, soil, and wildlife.

Located in San Juan Capistrano, The Ecology Center primarily serves residents and students in the Orange County area, with additional members and visitors from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Riverside counties.

Our goal is to create a culture of sustainability where together we work to ensure the health of our environment and community. To do this, we've created a regional hub to gather and share progressive ideas and skills in building a healthy household and community. Please join us!