Working Towards a Participatory and Just Food System: A Community Designed Extension Workshop Series.

The workshop series sought to support food justice and sovereignty by educating food systems professionals about the root causes of inequities in the food system. Residents who are knowledgeable about food systems and active about food and agricultural issues are critical for the long-term success of efforts to develop an equitable food system. Education about food and agriculture can equip residents with the knowledge and skills to transform their food system and make positive changes in their communities. We sought to train food system stakeholders to help their communities affect those positive changes. The series reached a broad range of food system stakeholders, including community nutrition and garden educators, local government officials, producers, etc. Building Equity in the Silicon Valley Food Systems was a professional development series co-designed by community partners and cooperative extension advisors. Four webinars covered topics across the food system, including agricultural land access and housing, culture and power, and community-led approaches to food system work. A concluding in-person convening offered participants the opportunity to reflect on the series and develop a shared action plan to carry learnings from the series into their work. Surveys were administered at registration, after each workshop, and at the conclusion of the series. Respondents reported increased knowledge of equitable food systems (81%), the historical roots of inequity in land access and housing in Silicon Valley (81%), diverse cultural food traditions (80%), and strategies for promoting equity and community-led solutions (82%). 98% of respondents indicated they would take action – or had already taken action – as a result of the series. Those actions included increased collaboration, implementing values-based procurement, including more community voice in programming, and finally, a willingness to advocate for systems-level change. Co-designing a workshop series with community partners led to positive increased knowledge and intention of food system professionals to work towards a more participatory food system. NIFA [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]