USDA Grant Proposal Summary

2022 USDA AMS Regional Food System Partnerships Program Grant

Building Community Resiliency and Strengthening Local Food Systems 

During Emergencies in Coastal Northern California

October 31, 2022 – October 30, 2025

Summary: Leveraging the expertise of a diverse range of collaborative partners including the University of California, local and tribal government, food policy councils, organizations active in disaster, emergency food providers, and local producer organizations, this project seeks to create a North Coast Emergency Food System Partnership spanning 6-counties from Del Norte to Marin and working across community, county, and regional scales.

Objectives: The project has three interconnected objectives.

1. Farm to Emergency Food - create additional market opportunities for local producers within emergency food supply chains to mitigate risk and maintain income during disasters.
2. Community of Practice - build collective capacity to improve emergency food systems by creating a strong network of partners, developing emergency feeding plans, and inventorying local emergency food supply chain infrastructure.
3. Policy, Practice, & Economic Barriers - identify recommendations to address barriers to establishing effective local and regional emergency food supply chains.

Anticipated Impacts: The project seeks to expand sales and mitigate risk for local food producers while reducing chronic food insecurity and crisis-induced hunger. It strengthens community resilience and economic viability of the California North Coast’s regional emergency food system, including responding to and recovering from the pandemic and wildfires. Centering equity across all activities, the project seeks to mitigate geographic isolation, increase self-sufficiency in times of emergency, and reduce disproportionate social, environmental, and economic impacts from emergencies and natural disasters fueled by climate change.

Funding: USDA Regional Food System Partnerships Program - Implementation & Expansion Grant. More information here. Project Amount: $1,490,626 (USDA Award Amount: $990,752 / Match Amount: $499,874).

Contact: Julia Van Soelen Kim at jvansoelen@ucanr.edu &
              Karina Lundahl, Project Manager at klundahl@ucanr.edu 

              office: (415) 473-7839