Hunger in San Diego County is worth solving. Here are three reasons why. Hunger in America is not going away anytime soon. There’s an ongoing debate in our country about the value of hunger relief programs. One argument against taking the time to make nutrition...
When I tell people I want to challenge the system, many say it can’t be done. They ask me about my education, and I say, “Why, yes, I do have my Master’s.” Then I point around in reference to my...
Cassava root. Freshly made tortillas. Locally raised halal lamb. Cleaned and chopped nopales. Affordable bulk spices from around the world. Bok choy and collard greens. There is an impressive...
60 years. That’s the time the United Nations says we have left to farm, worldwide, if we continue to use industrial techniques: destroying our topsoil with chemicals, leveling forests, and using...
According to the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, a resilient food system is “able to withstand and recover from disruptions in a way that ensures a sufficient supply of acceptable and...
Back in 2008, I accepted the definition for food justice as “everyone having access to safe, nutritious and culturally appropriate food in sufficient quantity and quality to sustain a healthy life...
If you ask them, most people in San Diego County would probably agree that it’s good to have access to fresh, seasonal, and local food. On a daily basis, however, a variety of factors makes this the...
As the City of Oceanside’s Environmental Officer, I have been working toward a zero waste community for the past 15 years. In 2015, I began to recognize how diverting food to feed people instead of...
Trauma is a pervasive public health problem, and its effects are detrimental to San Diego County residents. While the general understanding of trauma is often limited to commonly accepted adverse...
For many workers, long-term job security, employment benefits, and work protections are a thing of the past. As our economy bounces from crisis to crisis, a growing number of people earn a living...
An entrepreneurial approach is key to scaling up local, sustainable, and equitable food value chains. Enterprise is the correct model, but government and philanthropy must play a more prominent role...
As a lifelong farmers market fan turned operator, I like to say that my job is weird. My team and I run grocery stores in the street. We move barricades, tow cars, curate vendors, create marketing...
The need for strong local food systems became crystal clear during the COVID-19 pandemic when household food shortages flourished while abundances of food rotted at ports and warehouses because...
I was born in San Diego and raised by the Vietnamese refugee community here. As displaced peoples making a new home on foreign soil, I was taught to cultivate healthy grounds, grow cultural foods,...
The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the many ways that the United States lacks the critical infrastructure to feed its own people, independent from the fragile, globalized food production and...
Our food system, as one system in a global economy, exploits labor globally, nationally, and locally. It is structured to be unjust toward workers. Corporations are incentivized to minimize inputs,...
