Food System Resources and Links

“School garden programs that are effective in achieving health and educational outcomes can serve as one relatively low-cost mechanism aimed at reducing health and educational disparities.” -Emily J. Ozer, PhD.

Welcome to Collective Roots Resource Page for Food System Change.

• Are you a "distavore" or "locavore"?
• What does health care have to do with the food system?
• What does organic gardening have to do with community health?
• Why do the poor pay more for food?
• Is there a quiet revolution going on in school cafeterias?
• What is your school district policy regarding school gardens?
• What is your "consumption factor"?
• What is a community food system?
• What is the world eating?

These questions and many more are addressed in articles that are linked to your left! Key resources available on the web are listed below.

"Collective Roots is taking a key leadership role in changing the way food is produced and distributed—this will make a dramatic difference in the health and well being of the community and the environment. It simply isn’t enough to educate…we must challenge and change the physical environment in our schools, neighborhoods, and backyards. This food system change can have widespread impact on the health and well being of children and families in dramatic ways that address the issue of obesity and other health issues that are pervasive in this community. I urge you to support Collective Roots at this critical juncture in their organizational development—I’m convinced that this support that will enable the organization to become a leading force in improving the environmental health of a community that is long overdue for such change."
-Lisa Chamberlain, MD, MPH, Pediatrician at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Physician with Ravenswood Family Health Center, East Palo Alto

"The link between gardening and health is now a scientifically proven fact."
-Wolfram Alderson, Executive Director, Collective Roots

"Our environment and our health are inextricably linked, particularly among low-income urban populations. By paying greater attention to the built environment including homes, schools, parks, transportation and community design, we can reduce instances of chronic disease such as diabetes and asthma."
-Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA)

“The intersection between healthy people and a healthy environment is becoming clearer every day, with public health advocates emerging as crucial defenders of sustaining clean water and skies far into the future.”
-American Public Health Association

Food System Change Research Links

Food System Change Books

• Wolfram Alderson's list (click here)

“School garden programs that are effective in achieving health and educational outcomes can serve as one relatively low-cost mechanism aimed at reducing health and educational disparities.” The Effects of School Gardens on Students and Schools: Conceptualization and Considerations for Maximizing Healthy Development, Emily J. Ozer, PhD. Read the whole report by clicking here.

Organizations Supporting Food System Change

The California Food and Justice Coalition is a statewide membership coalition committed to the basic human right to healthy food while advancing social, agricultural and environmental justice. The CFJC is a member of the national Community Food Security Coalition, and collaborates with community-based efforts in California working to create a socially just, ecologically and economically sustainable food supply. Collective Roots joins with the CFJC to envision a California food system in which all activities, from farm to table, are equitable, healthful, sustainable, and community-driven.

Urban and Environmental Policy Institute/Center for Food Justice, Occidental College
The Center for Food & Justice (CFJ), is a division of UEPI. With a vision of a sustainable and socially just food system, CFJ engages in collaborative action strategies, community capacity-building, and research and education. Click here to view the great resources on their publications page.

Sustaining Ourselves Locally
We work to support and promote an urban community involved in, inspired by, and educated about environmentally and socially conscious living, and to provide a space to model and teach these practices locally.

The School Lunch Initiative
The School Lunch Initiative invites local parents, educators, and a nation-wide audience to learn about the changes going on in the Berkeley Unified School District under this unique collaboration of public and private organizations.

Chef Ann, The Renegade Lunch Lady
Chef Ann Cooper is a renegade lunch lady who works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students - one school lunch at a time. She brings you information to learn about the importance of changing the way America feeds its children.

Chez Panisse Foundation
In 1996, Alice Waters, pioneering cook, restaurateur and food activist, created the Chez Panisse Foundation in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. The Foundation supports an educational program that uses food to nurture, educate and empower youth.

The Food Project
The Food Project is based in Boston and creates fertile ground for new ideas about youth and adults partnering to create social change through sustainable agriculture.

The Ethicurean
eth•i•cu•re•an n. (also adj.) Someone who seeks out tasty things that are also sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical — SOLE food, for short. The Ethicurean is a great web site.

Three Stone Hearth
The Three Stone Hearth is a community Supported Kitchen provides healthy food to the Bay Area.

Edible Nation
Edible Nation is the official Blog of the edible communities.

Healthy Corner Stores Network
Corner stores frequently only carry unhealthy food items, liquor, and tobacco—and low-income communities and areas with limited access to public and private transportation often rely on these stores as their primary grocery outlets. The HCSN supports the work of participant organizations to promote innovative retail models, policies and programs that can help corner stores become the backbone of healthy neighborhood food retail.

FARMOLOGY
Farmology is the consumer education program run by the Agricultural Awareness and Literacy Foundation. The Foundation is a 501(c)3, founded by California Women for Agriculture in January 2001, to focus on educating consumers about the benefits and importance of American agriculture. California Women for Agriculture is the largest, all volunteer agricultural organization in California with over 3,500 members in 22 chapters. The Agricultural Awareness and Literacy Foundation brings together the strength of California Women for Agriculture volunteers with private, public and government support to create dynamic and accountable consumer education programs.

FRAMEWORKS for Food System Change
Self-guided curriculum that frames macro issues of food system change.

How to Talk Food Systems Change
Kellog Foundation "Food & Society" site provides tools for talking food system change.

Community Food Systems Bibliography
University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program