The non-profit organization known as Fairplex is responsible for the management of a 487-acre land in the middle of Pomona area. The Los Angeles County Fair and more than 500 other events are held at Fairplex every year. Fairplex is owned by a private enterprise and is run in partnership with the County of Los Angeles.
During the 1940s and 1950s, tourists were able to go to places called “storybook farms.” These were recreations of life in the pioneer era, and they included things like a cottage garden, root cellar, smoke house, school building, fire pole, and antique house that were inhabited by actors in period garb. In the 1990s, scale models of three-room adobe houses were constructed and displayed as illustrations of adobe block building techniques. At the beginning of the twenty first century, a wide variety of do-it-yourself crafts, such as making rag dolls, brooms, and adobe blocks, became available online in an effort to attract a larger audience.
The agricultural component of the property dates back to 2004 and 2005 when it was first constructed. It has a small garden where the 10 most important crops grown in California are grown, as well as a citrus grove and apple orchard, as well as new buildings for bees and honey, the Department of Agriculture display, and a kitchen to demonstrate farm cooking and canning, all of which are put to use during the fair in September.
In 2008 and 2009, dinners with locally sourced ingredients were first served at the farm in the farm’s historic barn. For the time being, the farm-to-table dinners at McKinley’s Grill at the Sheraton were only available for in-house events and for dignitaries who were in town on official business. Because of the overwhelming demand for them, we were compelled to start selling them to members of the general public in addition to our hotel guests. On the menu for supper are dry goods such as tomatoes and teas, processed goods such as olive oil and vinegar manufactured from farm products, as well as fresh organic food that was picked that day.
In 2011, Fairplex submitted a grant application to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in order to acquire financial backing for the expansion of their organic farm from half an acre to five acres. We are unable to accept your application at this time.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) granted Fairplex $425,000 after the company resubmitted the grant application from 2012 with certain modifications. This amount was matched by Fairplex for a total of $850,000. In September 2014, on the first day of the Los Angeles County Fair, a brand-new 5-acre section of The Farm was unveiled to the general public for the very first time.