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Food System Reports

Transforming the Oakland Food System: A Plan for Action

plan_for_actionThe Oakland Food Policy Council's first set of recommendations, completed in November 2010 and presented to the Oakland City Council Life Enrichment Committee in December 2010.

Download the full report here, and see some of the highlights here.




Recipes for Change: Healthy Food In Every Community

recipes for change imageWith a focus on transforming whole food systems to improve health, this report from the Prevention Institute
provides program and policy recommendations for all
action levels.

Download the full report





 

 

 

Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned
Just weeks after the USDA announced that one in seven FPCs-coverAmericans would go hungry at some point in 2009, a new report from Food First and the Community Food Security Coalition highlights a useful tool that city, state and local governments can use to fight hunger, diet-related diseases and other symptoms of a failing food system. Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned is based on an in-depth survey of 48 Food Policy Councils established in North America over the past 30 years, and comes up with some surprising, hopeful stories.

Model Food Systems Policy Tools for Local Communities
The National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN) announces new model food systems policy tools for local communities.http://nplanonline.org/

The model policies offer an overview of applicable state and local laws and give tips and alternatives for communities to implement and tailor them to local needs. All the model policies are available online for free. The new policies include:

Land Use Protections for Community Gardeners. Supportive land use policies, like zoning ordinances, can help to create community gardens and ensure their long-term ability to operate on a site. http://nplanonline.org/products/establishing-land-use-protections-community-gardens

Land Use Protections for Farmers' Markets. These policies include our "Model Comprehensive Plan Language to Protect and Expand Farmers' Markets" and "Model Zoning Ordinance Establishing Farmers' Markets as Permitted Use," which can be used to remove policy barriers, protect and optimize farmers' markets, and increase access for low-income customers. http://nplanonline.org/products/establishing-land-use-protections-farmers-markets

Model Healthy Food Zone Ordinance around Schools. A model ordinance that creates a "healthy food zone" by restricting fast food restaurants near schools or other areas children are likely to frequent. http://nplanonline.org/products/creating-healthy-food-zone-around-schools

Healthy Mobile Vending Policies. This fact sheet shows how mobile vending regulations can promote healthy eating in communities that need it the most. http://www.phlpnet.org/system/files/nplan/MobileVending_FactSht_FINAL_091008.pdf

Cultivating the Commons: An Assessment of the Potential for Urban Agriculture on Oakland's Public Lands
This 2009 report examines the potential for urban agriculture on Oakland's public land. The report identifies 1,200 acres of vacant CC_report_coverand underutilized public land that could potentially be used for food production. If only half of this land were cultivated using intensive ecological farming methods, the authors conclude that these “commons” could contribute at least five percent of the city’s recommended vegetable needs to the local food system, a significant step towards Oakland’s goal sourcing a third of its food locally.  The report also emphasizes urban agriculture’s potential contributions to Oakland’s sustainability goals. In addition to producing fresh and nutritious food, urban farming creates green jobs, and provides and other environmental services, green space, and educational opportunities. Visit urbanfood.org for more information on the project.

Community Resilience Toolkit
Bay Localize's Community Resilience Toolkit is designed for hgroups, particularly those in the San Francisco Bay Area, to prepare their communities to weather tough times. It places a special emphasis on economic and climate instability.

The Toolkit provides resources to evaluate a community's relative strengths and vulnerabilities, and take action to build resilience. It covers the topics of Food, Water, Energy, Transportation and Housing, Jobs and Economy, and Civic Preparedness and Social Services. Download your free PDF of the Community Resilience Toolkit at www.baylocalize.org/toolkit.

Healthy Food For All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Oakland and Detroit

This study assesses the status of Oakland and Detroit's food Policy Link systems, with an eye toward the potential for developing greater food security in these cities.

As the healthcare debate continues to heat up and more and more commentators argue that overhauling the food system is key to healthcare reform, this new report about building equitable and healthy local food systems in Oakland and Detriot captures the voices of people most affected by a failing food system: urban dwellers. Commissioned by the Fair Food Foundation, the study finds that Oaklanders and people living in Detroit are very aware of the link between diet and health: "Almost all residents voiced strong concerns about the links between their diets, their health and the health of their families...." The study also notes that urban dwellers are dissatisfied with the current choices available to them. Read the full report here.

Alameda County Crop Report 2008
Agricultural activity is increasing daily in Alameda County. Whereas farming activities used to happen outside urban areas, new trends in food cultivation thanks to food security efforts, has increased the amount of agricultural work inside cities. View the Alameda Crop Report to learn more.

Oakland Food System Assessment

Hunger: The Faces and The Facts

The Faces of Hunger

In Alameda County, 1 in 6 residents visits at least one of the Food Bank's 275 soup kitchens, food pantries, after-school programs, senior centers, shelers or other community agencies annually- the vast majority on a repeated basis. There is hunger in virtually every neighborhood.

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HOPE Collaborative Reports

Prepared by HOPE:

Prepared by Public Health Law &Policy, Bay Area Economics, and Food First:


Reports prepared for Food First by Public Health Law &Policy:

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