A Regional Food Justice Response to Farmers and Families during COVID-19

Keywords: food justice, regional food systems, COVID-19, BIPOC, women-owned farms, organic, mixed methods
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 38

Abstract

Despite being one of the wealthiest regions in the U.S., the Bay Area is home to hundreds of thousands of people who experience food insecurity and lack access to healthy food. Like other indicators of health, there are troubling racial and economic disparities in healthy food access, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, our project partner Fresh Approach and other non-profit organizations secured USDA contracts to develop an alternative model to the conventional approach of large distributors and food banks. In this model, civil society organizations and farms purchased food from local farms, assembled crops from various farms into produce boxes, and then distributed the boxes through Bay Area community-based urban empowerment organizations, who disseminated the food to the community members in need.

Our research team developed a participatory assessment of this initiative, focusing on the networks connected to Pie Ranch, one of the key food hubs. To complete the case study, the team conducted a mixed-methods analysis including: surveys and interviews with stakeholders, data analysis of cash flow and farm demographics, and a content analysis of pieranch.org and the websites of five of their food distribution organizations.

Our study concludes that Pie Ranch quickly responded to the threats posed by the pandemic and wildfires by implementing a transition from an educational farm to a justice-oriented food hub and production farm. The findings indicate that Pie Ranch has demonstrated a commitment to its values, goals, and the well-being of its local community.