Over the next 12 months, Roots of Change plans to:
- expand and deepen the grass tops-grass roots alliance committed to food system sustainability
- draft and promote model state and federal food and farm policies for the 21st Century
- increase access to healthy food
- continue to connect more California cities to their regional foodsheds
- raise and distribute more funds for our partner organizations throughout California.
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ROC currently supports the following projects. In 2009, new campaign initiatives and strategies will be developed by the ROC Community, including the building the Changemakers Network, creating a leadership alliance, and holding the first meetings of IFF (Innovators for the Future of Food).
Ongoing projects include:
Growing the Changemakers Network
http://www.rocfund.org/campaign/campaign/call-for-volunteers
The Changemakers Network gives people committed to Root's of Changes values and principles the opportunity to learn more abou the movment, participate in events around the state, and take actions to promote food systems reform. In 2008, the Changemakers Netowrk grew from 880 to over 6,000 people. We are currently working to add an additional 15k members to the network by the end of 2009.
The Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture
fooddeclaration.org
The Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture is a clear and concise picture of an alternativefood policy paradigm for the United States. On Thursday, August 28 2008, Roots of Change held a high-profile press event on the eve of Slow Food Nation to launch the “Declaration for Healthy Food and Agriculture” and FoodDeclaration.org to frame this new paradigm. It is hoped that an August 2008 – September 2009 viral campaign will attract up to 1 million signatures in support of improved Federal food policy.
West Coast Direct Farm Marketing Summitt
Roots of Change and USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will jointly sponsor a West Coast direct farm marketing summit, Developing Sustainable Foodsheds to Enhance Food Access and Nutrition to be held in Oakland, California, July 7-9, 2009. Approximately 100 experts from the West Coast area and other national experts, will come together for two days, to discuss how to expand direct marketing opportunities and local food access through regional foodshed development. They will analyze current case studies and share their knowledge to accelerate existing programs and spawn new ones that support creation of sustainable foodsheds. The Summit seeks to improve direct markets for producers and increase access to culturally appropriate and nutritious food to consumers, particularly those in low-income communities, urban and rural.
San Francisco Urban-Rural Roundtable
http://www.rocfund.org/blogs/michael-r.-dimock-s-blog/san-francisco-urban-rural-roundtable-2
This roundtable is tasked with prototyping urban and rural collaboration in the development of a “foodshed” for the City of San Francisco that would encompass a 200-mile radius from the city. With funding and support provided by ROC, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, aided by California’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture, AG Kawamura, invited over 50 leaders from city and country to meet three times in four subcommittees. Their charge: to develop an “integrated
set of recommendations for programs, incentives, strategies and practical actions” that San Francisco can implement “to support the regional agricultural economy and increase the amount of high quality, California grown food for all of our residents.” The four subcommittees are: Place-Based Agriculture; Aquaculture and Cultural Values; Resources and Environment; Healthy Food Access; and Agricultural Economic Viability. The Urban-Rural Roundtable provides a tangible focal point for stakeholders from across the food system spectrum to work together to link city and country in the challenge of creating a sustainable food system that is place-based. ROC plans to replicate this model in five other cities throughout California by 2011.
2008-2009 ROC Fellows
In this, the second year of the Fellows program, the ROC Stewardship Council selected 24 Fellows (out of 71 applicants) for their demonstrated ability to strengthen four Workgroups identified as essential to successful implementation of California’s Campaign. During the period of the Fellowship, each Workgroup was to develop a project plan for the period 2009-2012, for implementation with their Workgroup members. The four Workgroups focused on the following goals:
- Labor: Creation of a Worker-Owned Farm Labor Hiring/Recruitment
System as an ethical alternative to farm labor contractors, offering
improved living and working conditions for farmworkers and benefits for
farmers.
- Regional Food Systems: Creation of a Bundled CSA model that
takes the CSA concept to scale via bundling produce from multiple farms
and delivering directly to the consumer.
- Health and Good Food Access: Creation of healthy, self-sustaining communities by supporting school food environments
- Outreach to Conventional Agriculture: Creation of stronger
relationships between Agriculture and the Food Movement by arranging a
series of small dinner conversations throughout the state's key
agricultural regions..
ROC provided Fellows a venue, communication tools, staffing, and resources in order to participate in three intensive work retreats in the last quarter of 2008.
IFF (Innovators for the Future of Food)
IFF is an independent, nonpartisan network of business leaders who believe a good food system is a sustainable food system. The mission of IFF is to link business leaders and give them a collective voice during this period of rapid change in business and government policy. IFF members support accelerated progress toward a food system that benefits people, profits and the environment. Using its vast network, ROC, as IFF’s managing partner, provides objective information and diverse connections throughout the food system. ROC also provides forums and access to the most important food and agricultural policy debates at the state and federal levels.
Building Momentum for Change: Cultivating County Ag Futures Alliances (AFA)
www.agfuturesalliance.net , www.aginnovations.net
This
program is creating county leadership networks that connect and
strengthen California-based organizations and individuals that have an
interest in developing sustainable food systems. The networks have
three primary goals:
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To enhance the capability of leaders and organizations;
- To increase the visibility and credibility of these leaders and organizations; and
- To strengthen the influence of these leaders and organizations
through collaborative work to achieve policies that will
support sustainable food systems.
Five counties have launched
consensus-building roundtables focused on resource stewardship, land
use policy, sustainable economic development, and farm workers' housing
and health insurance. Additional county-level roundtables are planned.
California Roundtable on Agriculture and the Environment
http://foodsystemalliance.org/crae/
The goal of the Roundtable is
to promote agriculture that is economically viable, environmentally
sustainable, and socially responsible. Roundtable participants strive
to learn from each other about agricultural, environmental, and
regulatory issues, identify common interests, and advocate in support
of the group's common goals and principles. Presently, the Roundtable
is exploring the development of a certification system that will ensure
that California maintains the world's highest standards of
sustainability in agriculture.
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