Resources

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What's Cooking in Your Food System?
A Guide to Community Food Assessment

A new publication on community food assessments, What's Cooking in Your Food System? A Guide to Community Food Assessment, is now available through the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC). "Community food assessment" is the term for the analysis of food-related resources and needs. SAREP, the California Department of Health Services and the California Nutrition Network funded this new guide, which was written by Kami Pothukuchi, Hugh Joseph and Andy Fisher and edited by Kai Siedenburg and Kami Pothukuchi. The National Food Stamp Program and USDA's Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program provided additional support. The guide includes case studies of nine food system assessments, guidance on research methods, strategies for promoting community participation, and ideas for translating an assessment into action. To order the $18 (plus shipping) publication, contact CFSC, PO Box 209, Venice, CA 90294; (310) 822-5410; cfsc@foodsecurity.org or www.foodsecurity.org.

Foodshed case studies: Placer, Alameda, Stanislaus

Studies of three foodsheds in Placer, Alameda and Stanislaus counties are now available through SAREP. The reports provide an overview of important trends in each county's food system, and analyze trends in the development of sustainable, local food systems in each region. They are designed to provide information for residents, farmers, local businesses, nonprofits, governments agencies, and local policymakers interested in the future of each region's food and agricultural system.

"Agriculture and food systems in the U.S. have changed dramatically over the last 50 years, and these counties are no exception," said Gail Feenstra, SAREP food system analyst and lead researcher and co-author of the three studies. "Smaller family farms have declined with larger, integrated operations now supplying food and other agricultural products to a global economy. Farms in these regions that were quite diverse have become specialized or have disappeared."

The studies show how, in response to global food trends, community-based organizations as well as regional and national groups have begun to revitalize local food systems through greater interactions among local farmers, ranchers, retailers, processors and consumers. The reports highlight the trends and food system efforts in each county. The California work is part of a national study, "Consumers, Commodities and Communities: Local Food Systems in a Globalizing Environment" in which a partnership of 18 land grant universities throughout the country are collaborating to study local food production, distribution and consumption in a global economy. Participating states are each studying regional food systems in three distinct areas: an urban county, an urbanizing country, and a rural county.

The three case studies are:

• Alameda County Foodshed Report, by Shauna Cozad, Shawn King, Henry Krusekopf, Sarah Prout and Gail Feenstra
• Placer County Foodshed Report, by Shawn King and Gail Feenstra
• Stanislaus County Food System Project, by Jamie Anderson, Gail Feenstra and Shawn King

For copies of the $10 reports, contact Feenstra at SAREP at (530) 752-8408, gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu. Web versions of the studies will be available in January at www.sarep.ucdavis.edu.