Mission Garden is a living agricultural museum near Sentinel Peak in Tucson, Arizona. Its adobe walls enclose four acres of heritage crops and heirloom trees. These plants represent cultures that have lived in the Sonoran Desert over the past 4,000 years. People who have lived here include Hohokam, Tohono O’odham, Spanish colonials and other Europeans, Mexicans, Chinese, and people of African descent. As a result, Mission Garden grows crops that originated in many areas of the world. Some of these crops are listed in the Ark of Taste's catalog of heritage foods. White Sonora wheat and O'odham pink bean exemplify local foods in this catalog.
Staff and volunteers tend constantly changing garden plots that show cultivars and farming methods that have succeeded in the Sonoran Desert. Mission Garden also hosts regular and special events about these foods. The gardens and events combine traditional and modern knowledge related to agriculture in this hot and arid region. This focus is relevant in the context of food insecurity and climate change. Collaborations with other organizations enhance Mission Garden's mission (quoted below).
Mission Garden inspires people to connect to this land by reclaiming agricultural traditions for our community in a changing world.This historical and cultural resource figured in Tucson’s successful application to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. And in 2015, Tucson became the first City of Gastronomy in the United States. It is noted especially for its culture and development of Sonoran Mexican cuisine. People who visit Tucson because of its City of Gastronomy designation often include Mission Garden among their food-related destinations. Related media attention has included pieces in Bon Appétit, the Boston Globe, the Denver Post, Forbes, and the New York Times.