In the course of looking into the Oakland Food Policy Coucil (OFPC), several people shared their thoughts on its formation and goals.  Here are a few of those voices, including a couple who are on the new council. 

What are your thoughts? Whether you are an avid gardener, a food justice advocate, or a community member interested in food and health, we would love to hear from you. 

David Roach, Mo’Better Foods

“We have collaborated with many of the people and organizations involved in this work, but we haven’t really been involved in the formation of the [Oakland] food policy council.  There’s been a lot of great work and we need them, but we can’t forget the most important element—the famers.  The first thing is the farmers.  Without supporting good farmers, there’s nothing else.”

Haleh Zandi, Planting Justice 

“I think one of the most important parts of OFPC is the series of listening sessions which allow Oakland residents a space to speak about their food system experiences, needs, desires. It is important to build these bridges between the grassroots and those who are making powerful decisions about the structures and systems which make up our food access.”

Dana Harvey, Mandela MarketPlace:

“One of the things often missing in the discussion of a green economy is the food industry and the food movement.  I hope the (OFP) council will represent the community, those that are most affected by the issues. What we can do is to create strong, local, successful grassroots projects.  That is what should drive policy change.  I would be happy to give my input if solicited and would speak before the city council.”

Christopher Waters of Nomad Café and new councilmember:

“I've been a big fan and supporter of the OFPC since the initial Food Policy Assessment was presented to, and acknowledged by, City Council and the mayor's office at that time.  I have really high hopes, and expectations, for the OFPC.  I come at it as the owner of a community-based award-winning green business supporting organic, local goods and Fair Trade/socially just purchasing.  I also come at it as someone deeply entrenched in the Oakland public school system and the advocacy for food access and nutrition that we are doing there.  I helped write the new OUSD district-wide wellness policy that was adopted in 2007, and I served as the chair of the OUSD garden council as well as on the OUSD Coordinated School Health Council, as well as its nutrition advisory group.  I started a very successful at-cost weekly produce stand at Peralta Elementary three years ago that is still going strong.  I have advocated for the expansion of the deployment of salad bars at our public schools as well as garden-based nutrition education.  So food justice, to me, is about access to healthy, nutritious foods to all segments of our communities, as well as helping to address the childhood obesity epidemic, and creating agriculture, production and service jobs in the food industry that our low-income citizens can have fair access to.”


Aaron Lehmer of BayLocalize and new councilmember:

"We can reduce food-insecurity and enhance nutrition in underserved communities by instituting policies that make it easier to start urban gardens, ensure people's access to arable land, and develop programs to sell fresh, locally grown food at retail outlets in low-income neighborhoods."

About Ryan Van Lenning

Ryan Van Lenning is a writer and community organizer focusing on issues of social justice, food justice/urban agriculture, and sustainable transit. He is also passionate about anti-militarism, media reform, and building alternative economies in sustainable cities. Among other places, his work appears in Terrain Magazine: Northern California’s Environmental Magazine, Truthout, and Matador Change. Prior to becoming caught in the web of Bay Area ink-slinging and activism, he taught in the Humanities Department at a community college in Ohio, where he created courses in Environmental Ethics and World Religions: Peace and Violence. He is both a hyper-localist and a globalist, a home-body and travel-addict, and a city explorer and nature aficionado, just a few of the many paradoxes with which he is afflicted. Contact him at ryan@oaklandlocal.com, follow him on twitter @vanlenning, and find more at his blogs Pull the Root, Travelin' Bones, and Rumi and the Cholo.