COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENTS

"A Community Food Assessment (CFA) is a powerful way to tell the story of what is happening with food in a community, and to mobilize efforts to improve the food system. A CFA is a participatory and collaborative process that examines a broad range of food-related issues and assets in order to improve the community's food system. Through such assessments, diverse stakeholders work together to research their local food system, publicize their findings, and implement changes based on their findings."—Community Food Security Coalition

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENTS
http://www.whyhunger.org/programs/fslc/topics/community-food-assessment.html

COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENT INFORMATION—From the Community Food Security Coalition, this website serves as a clearinghouse for food assessment-related tools and resources, including reports and information from numerous past and current assessments.
http://www.foodsecurity.org/cfa_home.html

WHY DO A COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENT—Potential Benefits of a Community Food Assessment
http://www.foodsecurity.org/cfa/faq_whydo.pdf

STEPS TO A COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENT—Organize, Plan, Research, Advocate
http://www.foodsecurity.org/cfa/cfa_assessment.pdf

EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY FOOD ASSESSMENTS

• Missoula CFA http://www.missoulacfac.org/Missoula_County_Community_Food_Assessment
• Whatcom County CFA http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/cfa/
• Columbia Gorge CFA http://www.gorgegrown.com/project/cfa.cfm
• Clark County CFA http://www.stepstoahealthierclarkco.org/pdfs/Clark_County_Food_System_Report.pdf

WHAT'S BEEN DONE SO FAR IN KITTITAS COUNTY?

• June 2007—Food Access Coalition for Kittitas County established mission statement and goals, the third goal focusing on assessment:
  • Mission Statement: To advocate for all people of Kittitas County to have consistent access to healthy food and an understanding of nutrition by promoting and developing local programs and partnerships.
  • Goals:
    1. Increase the availability of, usage of, and access to fresh foods
    2. Support local food access programs
    3. Identify community needs, assets, and resources with respect to food access and nutrition education
    4. Education about nutrition
    5. Outreach and publicity about food access issues, events, efforts, and projects
• August 2007—Colleen Donovan, Heifer International presented an introduction to Community Food Assessments to the Food Access Coalition [Click here to see the slides from the presentation]
• November 2007—Food Access Coalition participants began discussing what kinds of things we would want to know from a community food assessment and who could be potential partners. [Click here to see the minutes from this meeting]
• June 2009—Food Access Coalition participants attended a Community Food Assessment training sponsored by the Access to Healthy Foods Coalition in Tacoma, WA. [Click here for a link to the presentations and information from this training: http://www.accesstohealthyfoods.org/index.php?page_id=254]
• October 2009—The Food Access Coalition, with support from Shape Up Kittitas County, KEEN, and Ellensburg Public Library sponsored a screening of the film, “Good Food” and presented to the community about Community Food Assessments. We also recruited potential partners, participants, and volunteers for a local Community Food Assessment. [Click here to see the slides from the presentation]
• January 2010—A Community Food Assessment workshop will be held to determine the scope and purpose of a local assessment.