San Diego Food System Alliance
We are pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the San Diego County Food System Alliance. The Alliance will bring together community members and leaders to work on a wide variety of opportunities to improve the food system in San Diego county.
The creation of a Food System Alliance was a recommendation of the San Diego County Food System Working Group, formed to direct the creation of a San Diego County food system assessment. That assessment was developed by staff from the California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) and the Agricultural Sustainability Institute (ASI), based in Davis, California, including Gail Feenstra, project lead, and Susan Ellsworth, researcher. Released in 2010, the assessment found multiple opportunities to enhance the economic viability of producers and the food security of consumers through targeted local actions focused on leveraging San Diego County’s long history in food production and willingness to innovate to solve problems. The final assessment report can be downloaded here in its entirety.
In 2011, County Supervisor Ron Roberts City of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders working with Roots of Change convened an “Urban-Rural Roundtable” to look at ways to support better economic and social outcomes from the San Diego County food system. One of the key recommendations in this report was the formation of a Food System Alliance to develop recommendations for policy makers on others on appropriate actions. The results of this Roundtable is available here in its entirety and at the Roots of Change website (Macintosh users please note that these files may not be readable in Preview, but can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat).
In 2012, The California Endowment generously granted funds to start the Alliance under its Building Healthy Communities initiative. Work on the project kicked off in March, 2012. Joseph McIntyre, president of Ag Innovations Network, will be serving at the lead facilitator for the project.
Between March and July of 2012, the project was in its organizing phase, which concluded with a kick-off event for potential Alliance members.
If you are interested in the San Diego Food System Alliance and want either more information or to be put on the mailing list to receive updates on the project, please contact Keryna Johnson, Alliance Coordinator or contact her by phone at 619-631-4490.
SDFSA Posts Introductory Meeting Slideshow
The slideshow from the San Diego County Food System Alliance introductory meeting is now available online.
Read More »SDFSA Releases FAQ
The San Diego County Food System Alliance FAQ is now available online.
Read More »SDFSA Launches Facebook Page
The San Diego County Food System Alliance announces the launch of their Facebook page.
Announcing Our New San Diego Food System Alliance Coordinator
May 2012 We are pleased to announce the selection of Keryna Johnson as Ag Innovations Network’s new Alliance Coordinator for the San Diego Food System Alliance.