“The SBCFAN grant not only made it possible for our farmer collaborative to purchase equipment vital to growing heritage grains adapted to our local climate, but it also led to other forms of member investment and cooperation. As a result of this network, we see a greater openness to sharing equipment, knowledge, and resources—an attitude which makes local farmers, individually and collectively, more resilient.”

“The videos have been very helpful in the way that people ask about our project and we can easily forward them a visual that explains not only the project but who we are as people and what we believe in when it comes to food pertaining to our project.”

“Connecting residents to food grown in our region is common sense. Santa Barbara Foundation invests in the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network (SBCFAN) to improve food systems and provide better access to food, especially for Santa Barbara County’s low- and middle-income residents. The work SBCFAN does today will secure a healthier, sustainable, and more food-secure Santa Barbara County (and beyond) for generations to come.”

“Ten years after Dr. Cleveland’s study, our food system is still fragile – wildfires, flooding, and a global pandemic have unmasked further inequities and gaps. Through its membership, SBCFAN is providing a hub for local food system information, access to resources, collaboration, and activation so that together, we can build a more resilient food system that everyone can participate in and benefit from.”

“Local food has an important role to play in responding to the immense challenges our food systems face – climate change, racism and social injustice, a pandemic of diet-related diseases, and COVID-19. However, we need to work together to design and measure better indicators of success to make sure it’s moving us in the right direction.”

“By learning from each other and working together, Veggie Rescue and other Santa Barbara County charitable feeding nonprofits are able to contribute to the long-term health of our community by increasing access to fresh, local produce. I’m grateful for the role SBCFAN plays in facilitating these conversations and partnerships that are changing how we approach our work, bringing us together to envision a greater and lasting impact, and providing the framework to move us forward in achieving that vision.”

“Farming can be solitary, but the solidarity our grain producer cooperative has built will have lasting impacts on our success as farmers, helping grow our small operations so they act as examples and incubators for a new diverse generation of mentored farmers. The power of an organization like SBCFAN to support the activation and sustainability of such work, thereby effecting substantive, permanent change to our local food system, cannot be overstated.”