Sonoma County Food System Alliance
The Sonoma County Food System Alliance was launched in November of 2009 to bring together a wide variety of individuals and organizations concerned about good food and healthy farms. Over 30 members from organizations as diverse as the Ceres Project, which is focused on providing healthy food to individuals and families facing life-threatening illnesses, to the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, which represents farmers and ranchers in the County, are part of the Alliance.
The Alliance has taken on three tasks to help Sonoma County move forward on food and farming issues:
- Establishing a set of goals for a good food system. These goals guide the group in designing projects and encouraging action.
- Creating an assessment of the current food system and where opportunities exist to improve. This includes looking a places in Sonoma County which lack access to good food, where farming’s economic viability is challenged, and where there are opportunities to create good jobs in food and farming.
- Encouraging community action to support good food and healthy farms.
The Alliance is a grassroots effort. Members volunteer a minimum of 40 hours per year to participate in meetings and help build community consensus on food and farming issues.
The Alliance is part of the statewide Food System and Ag Futures Alliance project sponsored by Ag Innovations Network, an organization dedicated to improving California’s food system. Other Alliances operate in San Mateo, Yolo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. A new Alliance is being launched in fall 2010 in Fresno County.
The Alliance was sponsored in Sonoma County by the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, and the Sonoma County Agriculture Commissioner
The project received initial funding support from the Sonoma County Department of Health Service’s Health Action Initiative, Roots of Change, the CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, and Ag Innovations Network.
Sonoma Featured in Photo Essay
Nov. 2011 Local photographer, Karen Preuss, worked with us to create a beautiful photo essay documenting the Sonoma County Food System.