San Diego Food System Alliance

Congratulations to our friends at Project New Village on launching this brilliant podcast 🖤❤️💚 Episode 1 is out now and we're so excited to tune in! In San Diego County, we are fortunate to have the deep wisdom and assets of Southeastern San Diego's community and lineage. The seeds of SESD's Good Food District—a model for cultivating food sovereignty through a community-rooted, placed-based effort—were planted in large part by the dozen or so Black founders of Project New Village, including the late Robert Tambuzi. Listen to their story now 👇🏿

🎟️ A beautiful event is around the corner on Sunday 8/25! The Dockside Night Market is a celebration of our local fisheries and all of the diverse species San Diego has to offer. Enjoy a variety of dishes that showcase our freshest catch of the day, prepared by local chefs. Tickets: https://lnkd.in/gKtvnNBa 100% of ticket profits will be donated to The San Diego Fishermans' Working Group to protect the commercial fishing interests and opportunities in San Diego by providing seafood choices that affirm regional cultural traditions, support local communities, and contribute to the health and productivity of natural marine resources. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱? Eating local seafood is one of the best ways we can nourish our bodies, the environment, and our community. It connects us with the land and sea where we live, builds a relationship with fishing families and the hard work of harvesting seafood, boosts our local economy, supports preservation of essential skills and jobs, and is a great choice for our health ❤️🐟 Help support a diverse and rich food system by eating local seafood. We hope to see you there!

We’re thrilled to announce that registration for our 4th Annual Gathering is now open! 🌌 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 4th Annual Gathering for San Diego County Food Vision 2030 Thursday, October 17, 2024 @ 9am-4pm (Doors open at 8am) California Center for the Arts Learn more & register: https://lnkd.in/dQJb_HJm The Annual Gathering calls in our community to be together, see each other, and collectively invest in San Diego County’s local food economy, preserve agricultural land and soils, elevate food and farm workers, shift toward a relational and reciprocal food culture, center cooperation and food sovereignty, and more. A few things we're excited about for this year: 💫 ~15 sessions 💫 ~500 participants 💫 Local food 💫 Community Hall 💫 Community Altar 💫 Youth Summit 💫 Spanish interpretation 💫 Free childcare onsite 💫 Volunteer opportunities 💫 Scholarships & stipends available Details about it all on the event website ⬇️ See you in October!

Reminder: The Alliance is closed and on break this week! We will return Monday, July 8. We've encouraged our staff to fully unplug during this time and make space for rest and health.⁠ ⁠ On summer breaks — we learned about the term 'estivation' from our friends at La Semilla Food Center, fellow humans also working toward just, equitable, local food systems. As La Semilla says, we are "following the lessons of wildlife's natural cycles of dormancy during high temperatures and in arid climates." Thank you for the reminder and for this term 🫶🏽⁠ ⁠ Prolonged rest is natural and essential! We're grateful to our full community for all your support, always.⁠ ⁠ P.S. We'll have exciting news about this year's Annual Gathering when we return 👀

Throwback to this past spring, when a few folks from our newest #PollinatorProgram cohort gathered at Ranchito Milkyway, a local farm in Bonita! We love our Pollinator cohort and are excited to feature them more soon.⁠ ⁠ 🐝 Pollinator (our play on a business 'incubator') is a tailored business planning and coaching program within our #LocalFoodEconomyLab, designed to support small-scale farmers, fishermen, and food business owners in San Diego County. Through this program, we aim to provide deep support to our region’s small food system businesses and help entrepreneurs build a strong foundation for viability and success.⁠ ⁠ 🥕 All of these photos are from the beautiful Ranchito Milkyway (https://lnkd.in/gSQ-nW4D), a Pollinator participant this year. Started by Christian and Alyssa in 2021, the farm is rooted in love, connection, regeneration, and nourishing local communities. Follow them, sign up for their CSA, and be sure to visit their farmstand on Sundays from 10am to 2pm!

We’re deeply grateful to have attended Pauma Tribal Farms’ Annual 5k and Gathering last month, a celebration of the tribe’s thriving farm, vineyard, orchards, and community spirit. Hosted by the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, this event included a beautiful 5k run, community gathering, and tons of educational activities centered on #climate, Indigenous #foodsovereignty, Pauma food culture, and honoring Mother Earth. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 📺 Watch the full video: https://lnkd.in/g-pW3gSk ⁣ 🌱 Learn more about Pauma Tribal Farms by visiting their website: https://lnkd.in/gzAW2zG3 ⁣⁣ Cultivating a just, sustainable, and resilient food system in any region is not possible without deeply partnering with, learning from, and respecting the original stewards of the land. Living in harmony with nature, honoring ancestral wisdom, and ensuring that wealth and prosperity are shared are all values deeply held and long practiced by Indigenous communities. Excluding Indigenous peoples from leading the way in shaping food systems across the world has cost all forms of life dearly. Taking steps to repair relationships and return power to Tribes in every community is essential.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ P.S. Say hello to #RootedRelations 🌱 this video is part of our brand new, monthly community newsletter and video series! Rooted Relations celebrates all the relations that make up our food system. Let this be a bridge to connect us ❤️ Subscribe here: https://sdfsa.org/rooted ⁣⁣ Words in video by Amanda Subish — Garden Supervisor, Pauma Tribal Farms

🔸🔸🔸 Policy action alert! Add your public comment in 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 of item 12 by 9pm tonight: https://lnkd.in/gPhbkK8U Background — On the agenda for tomorrow's Board of Supervisor Meeting is "𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗴𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻." We support this item! Thank you Chairwoman Nora E Vargas and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe for committing to address #foodjustice in our region through the creation of this regional community action plan. We're thrilled to see the power of transforming our #foodsystem recognized by our Board of Supervisors—food has the power to address intersectional issues of justice, climate change, and resilience. Most of all, we're thrilled for the opportunity to partner with local policymakers and uplift work already being done in the community to help this initiative move forward. #sdfoodvision2030 could be a great starting point. In 2020, nearly 3,000 San Diegans—including farmers, fishermen, food system workers, small business owners, and residents—co-created this 10-year regional plan, landing on clear objectives and strategies to guide policies, programs, and investments. Relationships and cooperation were seeded long ago—let's not reinvent the wheel! -- Once again, please take 2 minutes to 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 Agenda Item #12 by submitting an e-comment today before 9PM. Thank you!

We were thrilled to offer a free 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 workshop last week for small-scale farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and food business owners in our region, through our #LocalFoodEconomyLab. Thank you Mai Nguyen, heirloom grain farmer of 10 years, co-op developer, and friend of the Alliance for leading the workshop! Mai reminded us that adopting #cooperative models to transform our businesses, or starting new businesses with cooperation as the goal, may seem like brand new ways of doing things—but are they? #Cooperation is ancient, something we know how to do. To transform our economies, we need to start by reconnecting with this part of ourselves. Cooperation and solidarity will be major themes of the Annual Gathering this fall, and are essential for transforming our food system to nourish us all. Stay tuned for more!

Our Co-Executive Director Elly Brown has been helping organize a beautiful event happening on May 30, alongside Community Centric Fundraising San Diego. Join CCF and author/ally Bina M Patel for an evening of candid conversations and good food! Bina will be sharing her motivations and ideas behind her latest book, Say the Quiet Part Out Loud: Liberate Your Inner Changemaker. Afterwards, share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences in a safe and welcoming space.

Collaborative grant success! 🤝 The Alliance is thrilled to be part of a collaborative effort, led by Los Angeles Food Policy Council and Angel City Advisors, that has been awarded USDA funding to support new and expanded markets to benefit growers and consumers in the Southern California region 🌿 We're honored that LAFPC brought us together with American Nonprofits, Economic & Workforce Development Department - City of Los Angeles, Food Access LA, Fractal Strategies, Genesis LA, Inclusive Action for the City, LA County Department of Public Health, and Mission Driven Finance™ for this partnership. Funding was awarded by Reinvestment Fund for the Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program (HFFI Partnerships Program). In total, 16 collaboratives across the U.S., made up of 75 organizations, were awarded funding. Collaborating with peers who also care deeply about funding and seeding finance programs for small-scale, community-led food retail and food supply chain projects is very much aligned with the Alliance's #LocalFoodEconomyLab and #sdfoodvision2030 vision. We're thrilled to take part in this larger, regional uplift! https://lnkd.in/gzrBu8jb