| Food safety, food access, and food production are emergent concerns at the local, state, and national level. Exploring, supporting, and strengthening local food systems as a way of increasing health and preserving agriculture has resulted in the creation of food policy councils, food advisory councils, food system coalitions, and the like in cities and regions across the U.S. There are currently over 100 such organizations according to the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC). While there may be differences in how these organizations were created, how they operate, and what specific part of the food system on which they most focus, their commonality lays in the fact that they are working outside of, or working to change in some way, the traditional food production and distribution system in the U.S. The alternative food movement is formed from the efforts of individuals and organizations working to fill the gaps that the traditional food system leaves: gaps that leave many people without access to food, without access to nutritious food, and that leaves many producers who grow on smaller, often-diversified farms with market sources insufficient to maintain their livelihood. (Allen 2004; Winne 2004; Feenstra 2001).;In addition to exploring the barriers to healthy food access and the challenges faced by local agriculturalists---those supporting the local food system and those supplying the global market---this paper argues that collaborative processes provide an important, effective means to overcoming these barriers and challenges. Collaborative processes that include networking, outreach, and policy work that can engage key stakeholders will be discussed through the lens of developing and facilitating the Sacramento Region Food System Collaborative. |
