Student creativity was on display at San Diego State University as the school hosted its annual Social Venture Challenge, held in partnership with the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. Eight teams from five southern California colleges competed for more than $35,000 in cash prizes as they pitched concepts that offered food security solutions across San Diego.
In addition to supporting the 2025 Social Venture Challenge, the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation also donated $25,000 to Brightside Produce, a student-driven social venture focused on increasing the access to and availability of healthy food in underserved communities.
The Prevalence of Food Insecurity
According to statistics shared by Brightside, 1 in 4 SDSU students experience food insecurity while nearly a half-million people living in San Diego experience food insecurity. Brightside Produce, led by SDSU’s Zahn Professor of Creativity and Innovation Iana Castro, works to bridge communities through people and produce.
Castro, along with fellow SDSU professors, integrated the issue of food insecurity into the curriculum of a variety of classes, recognizing that a challenge of this scale requires a multifaceted approach. By integrating the topic into different subjects, she hoped to raise awareness of everyday struggles so many people in San Diego face.
“Some of the biggest issues we’re facing both nationally and globally are issues that require interdisciplinary solutions,” she said. “We need innovative thinking from all different perspectives.”
Showcasing Solutions
The competition offered undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to showcase their proposed solutions while going after prize money that could fuel their ventures.
Pitches ranged from turning spent coffee grounds into a mushroom-growing operation, to creating pineapple popsicles that combat iron deficiency. Other standout ideas included a nutrient-dense meal-replacement powder and an app designed to reduce campus food waste–connecting students with untouched food leftovers.
Kristen Blum, Board Chair of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, participated in the event as a judge. She said she was impressed with all of the pitches.
“I could honestly see every single one of the participants being a viable answer to some aspect of the food insecurity challenge we’re facing in San Diego and across the country,” Blum said of the event’s competing ideas. “It will be really exciting to see how these ideas evolve and how the teams continue to advance their solutions.”
The grand prize of $15,000 went to Grown Home, an app developed by Eddie Zaldivar that connects backyard growers and home kitchen businesses with local consumers.
The Audience Choice and Best Presentation awards went to a solution developed by Diana Hartwig-Arce and Till Hartwig-Arce from San Diego Miramar College. The duo developed S’POOY, which repurposes coffee waste to grow gourmet oyster mushrooms. With their $4,000 prize, the team plans to purchase a small shipping container to begin growing mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds.
To learn more about the Social Venture Challenge at San Diego State University, click here. And to learn more about Brightside Produce, visit their site here.