Story

Mission Statement

Big Bear Roots Foundation is a member supported, community driven nonprofit creating California’s first high altitude vertical farm and education campus in Big Bear Lake. Our mission is to build a year round hub for agriculture, technology, and education that grows fresh food, teaches people of all ages how to produce it, and develops sustainable solutions for our mountain community.

 

Our Story

I moved to Big Bear Lake in 2020 during the pandemic, leaving behind 30 years in new media, corporate branding, and digital innovation. That first winter I worked for Big Bear Mountain Resorts through Levy, being the only team member to work every venue on the mountain as a cashier, bar back, bartender, and supervisor. I quickly realized how much the resort and the community relied on outside food supply chains, and how limited fresh produce was in this environment.

In 2021 I launched NineZero9 Skateboards and toured California’s farmers markets and art fairs. Later that year I opened The Shop in the Village of Big Bear Lake, a custom electric bike and skateboard store. When the building was sold in late 2022, and the historic winter storms of 2023 closed the town and even collapsed a grocery store roof in Crestline, I knew it was time to focus on something more critical. The question was simple. What can we grow here year round that will truly support this community?

That spark led me into research. I began experimenting with controlled environment agriculture, building my own grow racks, testing mushrooms, greens, and herbs, and studying systems like deep water culture, aeroponics, hydroponics, humidity control, and CO₂ recycling. I found that mushrooms produced well in controlled spaces and that the CO₂ could be cycled into greens like cilantro, which had always been nearly impossible to source fresh in Big Bear. I proved short cycle crops like radish microgreens could be grown seed to harvest in under a week.

Together with Amy Herbrig, founder of Pacific Roots Boutique, we became certified producers with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. We launched Pacific Roots Farm, 

Big Bear Lake’s first certified farm. We grew mushrooms, lettuces, baby greens, mixes, microgreens, micro herbs, edible flowers, and vegetables, supplying local restaurants and partners across Southern California.

From there we innovated ROOTPOD, an upcycled grow system that allows us to sell living trays directly to chefs and customers, while also giving people a way to grow at home. ROOTPOD is now accepted by Amazon and will launch nationally. To manage everything we developed Rooty AI, our proprietary system that tracks crop cycles, climate changes, weather events, and mountain specific challenges. Rooty makes it possible for us to standardize processes, teach them, and replicate the system in other communities.

In 2025, after investing heavily in research and development, the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust awarded us stewardship of the historic drive-in building located on a 24 acre protected meadow. This site is becoming the Big Bear Roots Foundation Farm and Campus. Here we are building:

  • A vertical farm producing mushrooms, greens, mixes, and edible flowers

  • Multiple mushroom fruiting rooms and an inoculation lab for agar work and controlled studies

  • A full scale education center for students, families, and visitors

  • Outdoor greenhouses and community gardens for residents without space at home

  • The Makers Lab with 3D printing, CNC, screen printing, branding tools, and plastic recycling into ROOTPOD accessories and farm tools

  • Composting systems that integrate food waste from breweries and restaurants, while supporting fire prevention with wood chips

  • Renewable energy systems including solar and wind backups for resilience

We are also building educational partnerships with Bear Valley Unified School District and Rim of the World Unified School District to create agricultural and entrepreneurial programs, including hands-on workshops in soil science, seed germination, and becoming certified producers. With the California Farmers Market Collective, USDA, CDFA, Visit Big Bear, Care for Big Bear, the City of Big Bear Lake, Alterra Mountain Company, Levy Corporation, and university partners, we are aligning our work with the community’s future.

This journey began with one storm and one question. Today, it has become a foundation, a farm, and a campus that will make Big Bear a model for sustainable, high altitude food production and community education.