Building Bridges to Healthy Food Access
The Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC) hosted its 13th annual Food Day 4-part public event series from October 16 - October 25, 2024 with the theme of Building Bridges to Healthy Food Access in collaboration with the LA County Department of Public Health, LA City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and LA City Councilmember Tim McOsker. The event series is part of continued community efforts to improve healthy food access across Los Angeles and highlight the good work being done across the city and county by good food leaders.
World Food Day Convening: Farm to School Matchmaking and USDA Connections
On October 16, farmers and urban growers in the region met for a 2-part workshop at Grow Good Farm in Bell titled World Food Day Convening: Farm to School Matchmaking & USDA Connections. The Los Angeles Food Policy Council’s Cultivating Farmers program hosted the workshop in collaborations with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmer Service Agency (FSA), California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Food Access Los Angeles, and Community Alliance with Family Farmers. The team from CDFA informed farmers on the preparation needed to provide regionally grown, farm fresh food to students and do business with school districts. The USDA - Farm Services Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Services team informed farmers about programs and resources to support their work. The event also provided a great opportunity to network with other growers, get answers to questions about the different USDA programs available and register with FSA.
LA Foodscapes: Strengthening a Post Pandemic Retail Food Economy
On October 17, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council hosted it’s fourth LA Foodscapes conversation at Guelaguetza Restaurant in Koreatown titled Strengthening a Post Pandemic Retail Food Economy. The panel conversation explored local city and county initiatives supporting good food businesses and actionable steps to enhance both healthy food accessibility and local economic vitality. The panelists included Brittney Valles of Regarding Her Food and Guerilla Tacos, Doug Smith of Inclusive Action for the City, Alexandra Suh of KIWA, Bobby Kobara of TMC Community Capital, and moderated by Mona Holmes of Eater LA.
Pathways to Food Equity: A Dialogue Across the Food Landscape
On October 24, LAFPC collaborated on a full day event with Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health for robust conversations dedicated to improving food access and building healthier communities. In honor of National Food Day, “Pathways to Food Equity: A Dialogue Across the Food Landscape” brought together passionate advocates, researchers, funders, and community leaders to share knowledge, inspire action, and forge partnerships. The first panel conversation was moderated by LAFPC’s Executive Director, Alba Velasquez, titled Feeding the Future: A Multifaceted Approach to Food Access where Partners from across the food system discussed creating a more thoughtful and just food system for all Angelenos.
LA City Food Day Resolution and South Lawn Celebration
On October 25, we convened at LA City Hall for the official Food Day resolution and celebration with community partners at South Lawn. For the last 13 years, the Los Angeles City Council has recognized and acknowledged Food Day in LA, which serves as the largest civic engagement event focused on food in the City. This year we recognized Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez as our sponsor of Food Day and Councilmember Tim McOsker as co-sponsor of this year’s event and resolution. Each council office recognized a Good Food Champion for their district who is helping to Build Bridges to Healthy Food Access. The Food Day resource fair and celebration on South Lawn is a vibrant interactive gathering that featured a dozen healthy food advocacy organizations representing an ecosystem of healthy food access hubs serving the Los Angeles community along with a cooking demonstration by Jess Wang of Gu Grocery. Our speaking portion of the South Lawn event included Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez; Abigail Marquez, General Manager, LA City Community Investment for Families Department; and Dipa Shah Patel, Director, LA County Department of Public Health Nutrition & Physical Activity Program.
Good Food Champions
Each year as a part of our Food Day celebration, we invite each LA City Council District and LA County Supervisorial District office to nominate a Good Food Champion. This year’s theme of Building Bridges to Healthy Food Access was the guide in selecting people, businesses, and/or organizations doing great work in creating healthy food access for their neighborhood. The Supervisorial District Good Food Champions were honored at LA County Department of Public Health’s event, “Pathways to Food Equity: A Dialogue Across the Food Landscape.”
Good Food Champions by LA City Council District
South Lawn Partners
Thank you to our sponsors for making these events possible:
We reside, work, and cultivate food
on unceded Indigenous homelands.
We acknowledge and honor the descendants of the Tongva, Kizh, and Gabrieleño peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands). We pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.
As part of a greater foodshed, we would also like to pay respect to and honor the Chumash, Tataviam, Serrano, Kitanemuk, ʔíviĨuqaletem, Acjachemen, Payómkawichum, and any other tribal group possibly not mentioned. As a Food Policy Council for Los Angeles we recognize this land acknowledgment is limited and engagement is an ongoing process of learning and accountability. To learn more about these First Nations, visit here.