What Do We Know About Oakland's Food System?
The Oakland food system does not currently serve all of Oakland's neighborhoods equally well. The Oakland Food System Assessment carefully examined the Oakland food system, and came up with these findings:
| 30 | Percent of food consumed in Oakland that we hope to source from within the City and the immediate region |
| 20 | Millions of of acres in agricultural production within 300 miles of Oakland |
| 16 | Billions of dollars in annual sales of food produced on lands within 300 miles of Oakland |
| 35 | Number of community gardens in Oakland |
| 4,000 | Number of people employed in Oakland's food processing and distribution industries |
| 85 | Percent of Oakland food retails stores smaller than 3,000 square feet |
| 9 | Number of farmers’ markets in Oakland |
| 20 | Percent of Oakland residents living at or below the poverty level (2004) |
| 20 | Percent of Oakland households without motor vehicles |
| 23 | Percent of Oakland’s eligible population that is actually enrolled in the food stamp program |
| 54 | Millions of dollars of unclaimed federal food benefits in Oakland (2003) |
| 90 | Percent of Oakland’s eligible population that is enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children program |
| 25 | Percent of Oakland’s eligible schoolchildren using the School Breakfast Program |
| 6 | Number of Oakland Department of Human Services programs that are intended to reduce food insecurity |
| 12 | Millions of pounds of food provided by the Alameda County Community Food Bank each year |
| 120,000 | Number of people provided with emergency food by the Alameda County Community Food Bank each month |
| 14 | Percent of Alameda County children diagnosed as obese (the figure is even higher for Oakland) |
| 4 | Oakland's rank for rates of coronary heart disease among the 20 cities in Alameda County |
| 12 | Percent of all Oakland waste going to landfills that is food waste |
| 12,000 | Tons of commercial food waste diverted from the Oakland waste stream in 2005 |
| 34,000 | Tons of residential food waste diverted from landfills by the “Green Cart” program in 2005 |
Check back soon for more data from the Oakland Food System Assessment, or read the entire assessment here.
