Help Build a Resilient Food System
Planting seeds for El Centro Santa Barbara’s Somos Semillas (We Are Seeds) program at Parque de Los Niños (The Children’s Park) in Santa Barbara.
PHOTO J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVE
Building a Resilient Food System
Boasting a year-round growing calendar, Santa Barbara County is known as a food destination, ranking in the top one percent of counties nationwide with respect to agricultural value. Diverse microclimates, temperate weather, and warm ocean waters contribute to the rich abundance our farmers, ranchers, and fisherfolk are able to harvest. Yet, very little of this quality food makes it onto local plates due to critical gaps in our food system.
We invite you to grab a seat at our table so that together, we can invest in and build a more vibrant, equitable, and resilient food system that:
where local farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, and food businesses thrive
by ensuring that local, nutritious, and culturally sensitive food is accessible to all community members
by establishing a place-based food system that supports affordable access to locally grown food and fairly compensates and affordably houses the food workforce
by protecting farm and ranch land, reducing food waste, and building resilience in the face of disruptions stemming from disasters like extreme weather and pandemics
According to a 2011 peer reviewed article by UC Santa Barbara research professor Dr. David Cleveland, 99 percent of the fruit and vegetables grown in Santa Barbara County are exported – and 95 percent of the fruit and vegetables consumed in Santa Barbara County are imported.
SOURCE Cleveland, David, et al. “Effect of Localizing Fruit and Vegetable Consumption on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Nutrition, Santa Barbara County.” Environmental Science & Technology 45, 10 (2011): 4555-4562.
Localizing the Food System
A localized food system encompasses the closed-loop path of food as it moves from farm to table within the same region, including where it is grown, processed, distributed, consumed, and disposed of.
Agriculture in Santa Barbara County is valued at
5% of the county’s GDP, compared with the state of California, where agriculture is 2% of the GDP.
From Plan to Network
2011: UCSB Study Published
UCSB Study: Lack of Localized Food Infrastructure and Consumption
2015: Listening Sessions
Listening Sessions: 200 Community Members spent 1,200 Hours
2016: Food Action Plan
SBC Food Action Plan Published
2017: Working Groups Begin Activating Plan Goals
Working Groups Begin Activating Plan Goals
2019: SBCFAN
SBC Food Action Network Launched
2020: Organizational Structure Finalized
Organizational Structure Finalized
2020: $150K Granted
$150K Granted to Food System Projects
2020: Capital Opportunities
Capital Opportunities for Food System Projects Explored
2021: Core Team Established
Core Team Established
2021: Membership Launched
Membership Launched
2021: Loan Pilot Program Launched
Loan Pilot Program Launched
2021: Four new Working Groups launched
Four new Working Groups launched
The Role of the Network
The Santa Barbara County Food Action Network (SBCFAN) accelerates the activation of Food Action Plan goals by connecting, aligning, and activating a network of food system changemakers – from producer to consumer and everything in between – to develop a robust local food economy, a healthy and just community, and a well-stewarded, resilient foodshed.
Veggie Rescue delivering food to the Buellton Senior Center.
PHOTO SARITA RELISFood Action Plan Goals
Let's Get to Work
SBCFAN’s current priorities: Building the Network, Advocacy, Resource Sharing
BUILDING THE NETWORK
By convening and coordinating working groups, SBCFAN brings together individuals from across the food system to collaborate on projects that result in the activation of one or more Food Action Plan goals across four areas of investment. Active and developing working groups are building regional capacity to strengthen our food system.
ADVOCACY
Identifying, informing, and advocating for policies that more effectively support an equitable and resilient food system ensures that our Network can help advance economic development, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Current priorities at the federal, state, and county levels include:
Informed legislation
Farm and ranch land preservation
Affordable housing
Access to resources
Regulatory barriers
Regional infrastructure
RESOURCE SHARING
SBCFAN’s website is a countywide hub for critical resources such as:
Food Action Plan 2.0
Since 2016, numerous external shocks and political and social movements have illuminated gaps in our regional food system – and the Food Action Plan. In response, SBCFAN is developing Food Action Plan 2.0 to incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into the activation of Plan goals. Our current and emerging work to address these gaps is BIPOC-informed and stewarded and includes: directly informing and benefitting from food system project development; sharing resources equitably; providing accessible pathways for self-advocacy.
The Plan In Action
Building
Regional
Food System
InfrastructureJeff Olsson, owner of Industrial Eats in Buellton, holding a house-aged leg of locally raised heritage pig.
PHOTO: J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVEThrough cross-sector collaboration, SBCFAN Working Group members are identifying and accelerating solutions to establish regional grain, seed, and meat processing hubs and direct-to-consumer access. These areas of infrastructure represent a critical gap that must be addressed in order to establish a thriving localized food system.
KEY AREAS OF INVESTMENT
FOOD ACTION PLAN GOALS ACTIVATED
Advocating for Local Food Procurement Policies
Locally grown vegetables for sale at Summerland’s Sweet Wheel Farms farm stand.
PHOTO: J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVEDeveloping a
Resource Sharing
EcosystemPiedrassasi Wine & Bread owner, miller, and baker Melissa Sorongon milling locally grown grain in Lompoc.
PHOTO: J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVESBCFAN and the Economic Development Collaborative (EDC) created the Food System Resilience Loan Pilot to provide food businesses an equitable opportunity to access financing, address gaps in our food system, and ensure their businesses thrive. By offering low-risk, high impact financing, this program provides a pathway to invest in and build a more vibrant, just, and resilient food system for everyone in the Santa Barbara and Ventura County region.
KEY AREAS OF INVESTMENT
FOOD ACTION PLAN GOALS ACTIVATED
Storytelling
According to collective impact research data, storytelling is the most effective form of measuring a network’s impact. SBCFAN equitably elevates food system stories for those who would not have the means or time to capture them on their own. These stories initiate new working groups, identify policy gaps and barriers, and are used by the storytellers as education and marketing tools.
To learn more, please contact [email protected] or call (805) 203-6234.
DONATE NOW.
Your gift is critical to our success.
“Connecting residents to food grown in our region is common sense. SBF 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.”
Jackie Carrera
President AND CEO
Santa Barbara FoundationPHOTO: J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVE
Your gift is critical to our success.
The inequities and gaps in our food system may be complex, interconnected, and deeply-rooted, but the Food Action Plan provides a comprehensive road map for how together, we have the power to make it more vibrant, equitable, and resilient for all.
Your investment would directly support:
- Staff to implement strategy, operations, finance, working group coordination, communications, website management, marketing, and events
- Grant writing funds to share countywide to support food system projects
- Seed funds to launch an impact investment fund for food system projects
- Regional innovation that can be iterated nationally
Thank you for investing in the realization of a truly just, equitable, and sustainable food system for Santa Barbara County. Because everyone deserves access to affordable, healthy food.
133 E De La Guerra St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 203-6234
[email protected]
Cuyama Homegrown owners Meg Brown and Jean Gaillard at their Juniper Hills Ranch in New Cuyama.
PHOTO: J ANDREW HILL / PHAROS CREATIVE