COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM: CANAL

    • Community Co-Lead: Alcohol Justice
    • Nutrition & Wellness Program Lead Staff: Jesica Rodriguez

    Canal Community – Equitable Food System Priorities

    1. Promote edible urban greening in the canal and identify underutilized land for community gardens to grow organic produce.
    2. Leverage expertise of those in the restaurant industry and community gardens to support a public market with a commercial kitchen and food trucks.
    3. Support an educational campaign around decolonizing food ways with local community leaders to increase fruit and vegetable consumption..
    Word Cloud - Canal Action Team Interviews

    Canal Interview Results

    1. Financial insecurity, lack of time due to working multiple jobs, and limited access to affordable options are the largest barriers between community members and healthy eating.
    2. Healthy food will fuel people to work harder to better themselves and the community.
    3. Not bringing in something new but improving upon existing businesses and organizing home cooks into a mercado would be helpful.
    4. Community food systems mean taking care of those in need, a sustainable food system, and reclaiming cultural traditions.
    5. Community empowerment means a collective culture of inclusive and organized networks for mutual aid, uniting the community to hold power to make key decisions.

    Food Production

    Community gardens
    Policies for land access to grow food
    Increasing plant knowledge
    Home garden start up kits
    Plant fruit trees in public places

    Food Transportation

    Bulk buying clubs for groceries
    Food truck start-ups

    Food Processing

    Commercial kitchen access
    Improve school food
    Traditional home cooks
    Community cooking contests
    Existing resource of people working in restaurants
    Local cooks run training courses in kitchen spaces

    Food Retail

    Mercado open air market
    Culturally relevant markets
    Improve existing stores to have healthy and affordable options
    Farmer’s Market

    Food Consumption

    Provide food gift cards to local businesses as incentives
    Nutrition education and cross-cultural cooking
    Healthy Marketing campaigns

    Food Waste

    Home garden composting program

    Community Empowerment

    Youth leadership programs
    Community health/outreach workers
    Decolonize perspective around Food as Medicine
    Education/ training around food inequity in USA

    Economic Development

    Training programs to develop skills
    Developing food co-operatives
    Land access
    Official work permissions for undocumented people

    Recommendations for a Comprehensive Community Food System in the Canal

    1. Leverage expertise of those in the restaurant industry and community gardens to support a public market with a commercial kitchen and food trucks.
    2. Peer Health Promoters to build skills around healthy eating, decolonizing food ways, and healthy marketing.

    MARIN HEAL  20 N. San Pedro Road, Suite 2020   San Rafael, CA 94903

    communications@marinheal.org