Community Food Security - read the Hunger Commission's food access study and download free food access study materials including curriculum for nutrition education workshops.

Overview

This report is a comprehensive evaluation of food resources and food access avenues as they currently exist and operate in and around the Avondale/Glen Elder neighborhood in South Sacramento, California. The Sacramento Hunger Commission's vision is a community food-secure and free of hunger. In pursuit of our vision, we sought to evaluate access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for the residents of this diverse, low-income area so that we may build upon assets and address gaps in the local food shed and, in effect, enable residents to improve their own health and happiness.

From January through May, 2004, a wide variety of research was conducted, analyzed, and compiled into a report. We evaluated all food resources available to residents in Avondale/Glen Elder (between Fruitridge and Florin Rd., 65th and Power Inn), and surveyed residents to determine their difficulties and opinions regarding food access in the community. Nearly 45% of the neighborhood's residents are South-East Asian, almost 25% are Latino, and over 20% are African-American. Approximately 27% of residents live at or below the federal poverty level.

Avondale/Glen Elder was chosen for assessment because of its manageable size and because it is relatively well organized, thanks to the presence of the Weed & Seed program. A steering committee of active neighborhood representatives was developed to help lead the research and pursue actions to improve food security. Despite this organization, it was a difficult area to assess because of the great plurality of cultures and languages.

Recommendations from this report speak to areas of the regional food web that, when functioning well, contribute to a socially just, food-secure community. These recommendations were created through an integration of the Hunger Commission's knowledge, experience, and collaborative efforts with those of the neighborhood's residents. Many of these recommended actions need to be pursued at the 'grass roots' community level. Others need to be addressed by the city and/or Sacramento region, and some others need to be addressed by departments of state and federal government.

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