Building Equity in Silicon Valley Food Systems

On May 16th, the South Bay Food Justice Collaborative hosted the final event in a five-part series, Building Equity in the Silicon Valley Food System. The webinar series explored the historical origin of disparities in farming and food security in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and strategies for promoting food justice and food sovereignty. Topics included housing and land access, food culture and power, farmworker and labor issues, and community-led approaches to food work.

During the final convening at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm, representatives from more than 15 food system organizations engaged in dialogue to reflect on what they learned from the webinar series and plan future shared work to move toward a more just and inclusive food system. As one attendee said, “I now have the vocabulary to speak about food justice and the knowledge of the myriad of incredible players in this space. Moreover, I am inspired to take action!” UCCE* is grateful to our organizing partners, Veggielution, Valley Verde, Santa Clara County Public Health, La Mesa Verde, and Fresh Approach, and to our funder, Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.

Recordings of the first four parts of the series can be found on La Mesa Verde’s YouTube channel.

*UCCE collaboration & event coordination by Urban Ag Advisor, Lucy Diekmann and Nutrition Advisor, Laura Vollmer, with support from UCCE Community Educator Angelina Gutierrez.