Oakland Food Policy Council

There are three easy ways to support the OFPC!

1. Make a donation!

Invest in a more equitable and sustainable food system here in Oakland, and make the work of the OFPC possible!

Your contribution can also help support our Young Researchers program, helping local youth become advocates for food justice. Learn more about this program by watching this short video:

Support the OFPC from Oakland Food Policy Council on Vimeo.

Your tax-deductible donation to the Oakland Food Policy Council will help make healthy food available and accessible to every Oakland resident; build a healthy local economy; cultivate a healthy environment; and educate residents so they are equipped to make healthy choices about food and the food system Support from the community is essential as the OFPC grounds its success in the engagement and contributions of Oakland community members.

2. Get your stylish OFPC gear!

Order your OFPC aprons and t-shirts here!

3. Join Celebrated Chefs!

Get a Celebrated Chefs cookbook and support the Oakland Food Policy Council all year long simply by dining at any of the fabulous Celebrated Chefs restaurants.

• It is completely FREE to participate
• Restaurants donate to our cause every time you dine
• The program works just like airline miles
• Enjoy your FREE cookbook featuring the area’s best chefs (shipping/handling fees apply)

Enroll here!

Read our holiday 2010 message:

Best wishes to you for a joyful holiday season! I’m excited to share with you the many things the Oakland Food Policy Council has accomplished this past year. With the help of your strong support, we are already helping to shape and influence food policy in Oakland. Oakland’s residents believe in the work we are doing. We are a model council, sharing our findings, tools, and experiences with food policy councils across the country. The OFPC has tremendous potential, and with your support we will make our ideas into reality in 2011! Please make a contribution today.

(Zucchini photo: Jamie Nash)

Here are some highlights from this year’s activities, and you can read about more of our accomplishments on our website.

• Our 21 members have been meeting since September 2009, proudly representing all sectors of the Oakland food system and our city’s many diverse neighborhoods.
• Our all-volunteer council crafted our first official recommendations to address the needs of the community. Transforming the Oakland Food System: A Plan for Action will be released and presented to the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee on December 14, 2010. You can read about our ten recommended critical “First Steps” on our website, and the full report will be available for download soon!
• We produced a Policy and Agency Scan detailing all policies and agencies related to the Oakland food system at the City of Oakland, Alameda County, and state of California levels.
• We partnered with PUEBLO (People United for a Better Life in Oakland), to organize three Community Listening and Dialogue sessions in West Oakland, Fruitvale, and East Oakland to gather feedback on a draft of our Plan for Action. In addition, our full-council and workgroup meetings are attended by a growing number of residents, and to further enhance our ties to the community we will be partnering with the HOPE Collaborative’s Food Systems Action Team. We will handle policy work around our common priorities, and will provide opportunities for community members involved in HOPE’s FSAT to participate in food policy advocacy.
• We are working with the City of Oakland’s planning department on proposed updates to Oakland’s zoning code that will expand and protect things like urban agriculture, farmers’ markets, healthy mobile vending, and more.
• We consulted with Food First to guide development of Cutting Through the Red Tape: a Resource Guide for Local Food Policy Practitioners and Organizers, which will be published by Food First in the coming months. This is another in Food First’s continuing series of resources for food policy councils.
• We helped organize support for a successful proposal that the Alameda County Public Health Department be allowed to seek funding for the development of a “Health Element” for Oakland’s General Plan.
• We held our first annual “Party with a Purpose” at Pizzaiolo, which was attended by over 160 people and featured food justice activists Jason Harvey and Anna Lappé.
• We participated in the Oakland Museum of California’s November “O Zone” event, the first event in what we hope will be a long collaboration with OMCA.

After only one year, we are off to a great start, but much remains to be done! We have ambitious plans for 2011 and the years to come, working to implement ideas that include protecting and expanding urban agriculture, promoting use of food assistance programs at farmers’ markets, developing a “Fresh Food Financing Initiative”, expanding composting, encouraging healthy mobile vending, and more.

Help us build the momentum we need to transform the Oakland food system. Here is what we plan to do this December and in 2011:

• Continue to improve the OFPC’s diversity. We just seated our second group of councilmembers this September, including our first two youth members. One-third of our seats are available for new applicants each summer.
• Present our Plan for Action to policymakers and the community, and reach out to residents to advocate for its adoption.
• Work with community partners to create a comprehensive curriculum covering food justice, food systems, and food policy advocacy.
• Partner with the HOPE Collaborative to formally link their community-based “Food Systems Action Team” to the OFPC, and plan for regular listening sessions and educational workshops and forums.
• Expand the membership of our workgroups to include more Oakland residents, particularly from our most vulnerable neighborhoods.
• Seek creative new alliances with business and foundation sponsors to increase the visibility, scope and effectiveness of the OFPC’s efforts on behalf of Oakland.

You can read more about our activities and keep up with our news and events on our blog, our Facebook page, and our mailing list.

Can you help us keep up the momentum by making a tax-deductible contribution today? Visit http://www.oaklandfood.org/home/support_the_ofpcor go directly to our donation portal to make a year-end gift.

Thank you for all your support! Here’s to good food for all in 2011.

Your tax-deductible donation to the Oakland Food Policy Council will help make healthy food available and accessible to every Oakland resident; build a healthy local economy; cultivate a healthy environment; and educate residents so they are equipped to make healthy choices about food and the food system Support from the community is essential as the OFPC grounds its success in the engagement and contributions of Oakland community members.