Equitable Community Food Assessments webinars
December 17, 2024 - Kolia Souza, Keesa V. Johnson, M.Des., Moe Garahan, Yulia Chuvileva, Bridget Igoe, Anon Xola Lolli, Dawn Morrison
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EmailMichigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems, Food Communities Network – Réseau Communautés Nourricières, and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s Food Policy Networks project co-hosted a webinar series on community food assessments in 2024.
According to the Center for a Livable Future, a "community food assessment aims to improve a community’s food system via increased access to healthy food." These assessments examine the shopping habits of residents and their understanding of the community's food environment.
Watch the webinar recordings and explore the resources below to learn more.
Introduction to Community Food Assessments
September 19, 2024
Featured Speakers:
- Keesa V. Johnson, MDes, Food Systems Design Strategist, Founder of the Equity and Access Design Group
- Moe Garahan, Partnership Coordinator for Common Ground and Food Communities Networks
This webinar discusses the basics of community food assessments, including how to use systems and community development frameworks to guide and make sense of the assessment process.
Resources
- First Nations Development Institute - Food sovereignty Assessment Tool, 2nd Edition
- Michigan State University, Center for Regional Food Systems - Michigan Local Food Council Network
- Washtenaw County (Michigan) Food Policy Council
- Michigan Good Food Charter
- All about Love: New Visions - by Bell Hooks
- Michigan State University, Center for Regional Food Systems - Measuring Racial Equity in the Food System: Established and Suggested Metrics
- Halifax Regional Municipality Community Food Assessment Toolkit (Please note, this is an old version of the toolkit. Work is underway to update the toolkit to increase user friendliness, strengthen the food sovereignty lens, and better reflect Mi’kmaw, African Nova Scotian & Black experiences and wisdom. Stay tuned at JustFOOD Halifax for updates!)
- Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Urban Agriculture Plan: Growing from the Root Summary
- Petersburg Garden (example of providing access to land for place to grow food)
- The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace by M. Scott Peck
- Vital Village Network (Use of an inclusive community development approach to moving ideas to action)
- Food Insecurity in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (Ontario) 2024 Summary
- Addressing Food Insecurity in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (Ontario) 2024 Report
Laying a Foundation for Equitable Food Assessments
October 17, 2024
Featured Speakers & Facilitators:
- Yulia Chuvileva, Senior Advisor to Ignited Word
- Bridget Igoe, Strategic Advisor, City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment
- Kolia Souza, Food Systems Equity & Advocacy Specialist, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems
- Keesa V. Johnson, MDes, Food Systems Design Strategist, Founder of the Equity and Access Design Group
This webinar explored overarching frameworks, power dynamics, language, shared definitions and agreements, and resources for centering equity in community food assessments.
Slides from Brigette Igoe on Updating Seattle's Food Action Plan
Resources
- Social network tool: https://kumu.io/
- Chuvileva YE, Manangan A, Chew A, et al. What North American retail food environment indices miss in Guatemala: Cultural considerations for the study of place and health. Appl Geogr. 2024;164:10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103204. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2024.103204
- Community & Agriculture Resilience Audit Tool - CARAT
- Seattle (Washington) Food Action Plan
- Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Urban Agriculture Plan: Growing from the Root
- Philadelphia's (Pennsylvania) Racial Equity Strategy Dashboard
- Salt Lake City (Utah) Community Food Assessment
- Examples of reimagining information gathering
- Carver Integrative Sustainability Center - Black Harvest Series and Tuskegee Public Dialogue Team
Reflections from the Ground on Equitable Community Food Assessments
November 21, 2024
Featured Speakers & Facilitators:
- Anon Xola Lololi, Food Sovereignty & Food Justice advocate, Black Food Sovereignty Alliance
- Dawn Morrison, Founder/Curator of Research and Relationships, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty
- Kolia Souza, Food Systems Equity & Advocacy Specialist, Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems
- Keesa V. Johnson, MDes, Food Systems Design Strategist, Founder of the Equity and Access Design Group
- Moe Garahan, Partnership Coordinator for Common Ground and Food Communities Networks
In this webinar, speakers shared about their work with Black and Indigenous Food Sovereignty and how centering equity changed the process and results of their efforts.
Resources
- Black Food Sovereignty Resources
- Food Sovereignty for Black Communities in Toronto: Challenges and Policy Opportunities
- ‘From the Ground Up’ Toolkit for Indigenous Food Sovereignty Planning (Please note that Dawn can be contacted about facilitating this toolkit (dawn.morrison@wgifs.org), with a focus on use within Indigenous communities. Settler allies are encouraged to support through Indigenous communities by raising funds to pay for the facilitation.)
About the Michigan Local Food Council Network
The Michigan Local Food Council Network (MLFCN) brings together food councils to build their individual and collective capacities to work on food and food policy issues, operate effectively and engage their communities, through peer-to-peer learning. Learn more at foodsystems.msu.edu/localfoodcouncil
