Compost Landscape Inventory
Compost Landscape Inventory: Measuring California's Capacity to Regenerate Soil
We are a hands-in-the-soil foundation for education, demonstration, and collective renewal.
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People, Food and Land Foundation has always been more than an advocacy group.
Created to advance the economic and social well-being of rural communities by supporting small farmers, land stewards, and regenerative practitioners. We seek to increase self-sufficiency, nourish ecological and economic systems, and create pathways for lasting stewardship rooted in care, cultivation, and local prosperity.
People, Food and Land Foundation (PFL) was established in the 1970s out of dedication to education, demonstration, and regenerative action. While its sister organization, National Land for People (NLP), focused on policy and litigation - especially the enforcement of the 1902 Reclamation Act - PFL was born to carry the mission beyond the courts and into fields, gardens, and communities.
Guided by our values of regeneration, connection, resilience, stewardship, and imagination PFL strives for a future where land, people, and ecosystems thrive together – where the right to steward land is recognized as essential, and where regenerative practices are resourced, respected, and led by those closest to the soil.
We see a rural landscape woven with life-giving practices: composting that nourishes the soil, farming that heals the land, homes and systems built with intention and care. A future that remembers its roots while cultivating what is next.
1975
Today
Future
People, Food and Land Foundation (PFL) began as the National Land for People (NLP) and (NLPF) founded by journalist and activist George Ballis and his wife Maia. In an effort to challenge illegal land deals and defend the 1902 Reclamation Act, NLP advocated and organized to bring greater awareness to California’s Central Valley concerning environmental issues, farm worker rights, and land reform. NLPF aimed to educate, demonstrate and litigate with a focus on developing food systems that reflect sustainability and equity. After years of policy advocacy and legal battles George, Maia, and Marc Lasher shift gears launching an experimental living project in the Sierra foothills and renamed NLPF to People, Food and Land Foundation.
Building on the legacy of George and Maia Ballis, People, Food and Land Foundation aims to carry out its timeless mission to ensure that small diverse farmers and practitioners have the tools to restore, steward and cultivate our soils and other natural resources. We seek to increase self-sufficiency, nourish ecological and economic systems, and create pathways for lasting stewardship rooted in restoration, regenerative agriculture, and resilience education.
A future where land, people, and ecosystems thrive together - where the right to steward land is recognized as essential, and where regenerative practices are resourced, respected, and led by those closest to the soil.
We see a rural landscape woven with life-giving practices: composting that nourishes the soil, farming that heals the land, homes and systems built with intention and care. A future that remembers its roots while cultivating what is next.
Our Focus Areas
Ecology
Soil as our critical linkage
We believe in the power of renewal – of land, lives, and systems. From compost to community, we support efforts that restore vitality for future generations. Soil health is fundamental to human health. Soil erosion is often accompanied by the erosion of community life. Breathable air, safe and healthy drinking water, access to nutritious food, sustainable waste management, and the mitigation of the impacts of climate change are all achieved in the thoughtful, attentive care for land and resources.
Community building
Start with the most impacted
We honor the interdependence of soil, food, water, culture, and care. Our work is rooted in relationships – with place, people, and the cycles of the Earth. PFL comes from a decades-long legacy of critical social research and political activism addressing the impact of large-scale conventional agriculture on the life and livelihood of rural communities and workers. We take the position that small-scale, diversified food, farm, and waste management businesses hold the key to improving civic life and ultimately, environmental health outcomes. We invest in people and systems that can adapt, endure, and grow stronger – meeting change not with fear, but with creativity and care.
Policy
Climate solutions from the soil up
We hold space for bold thinking, rooted in possibility. Imagination lets us see what is missing, dream what is needed, and design toward futures worth growing PFL strives to bridge the gap between the creation of climate law and policy and its implementation . Environmental injustice threatens the health of our climate and our rural communities. People, Food and Land Foundation’s projects and policy initiatives are rooted in responsible cyclical management of financial and natural resource as a way to reach bold climate solutions ultimately improving local health, economic, and environmental outcomes.
People, Food and Land Foundation’s key initiatives weave together land, food, and community through stewardship that cares for people, places, and the systems that sustain them.