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Abstract #150470

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Heather M. Wooten, MCP, Public Health Law Program, Public Health Institute, 180 Grand Ave, Suite 750, Oakland, CA CA, 510-302-3370, hwooten@phi.org

Food System Assessment is a relatively new tool that allows communities to look at each element of their local food system (including food production, processing, retail, and even composting), identify existing needs, and make linkages between activities and sectors. Public health advocates and practitioners interested in improving food security and food access in their communities can use Food System Assessments to i) provide their community with an initial comprehensive evaluation and key baseline information on each element of the food system; ii) increase knowledge and awareness among assessment participants of issues and connections between work; and iii) build political capital for policy change. Using a systems approach to food security and food access is particularly useful when promoting strategies such as urban gardening and farming, improving food quality at small “corner stores” or “bodegas,” and linking local farmers to schools and other urban, low-income customers. This workshop will profile a Food System Assessment in Oakland, California, and the assessment's recommendations on how local land use and economic development planning and policy could be directed to improve public health, sustainability, and economic vitality.

Learning Objectives:

• -Explain the components of a food system and their relation to promoting healthy food access
• - Identify the benefits to conducting a food system assessment
• - Examine specific local-level policy recommendations generated from the Oakland Food System Assessment to improve food access and nutrition
• - Define local food access needs and priorities and articulate how local policy can best address them

Keywords: Food Security, Policy/Policy Development

Related Web page: www.oaklandfoodsystem.pbwiki.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout
• Multimedia recording