“Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice” is a CAGJ Food Justice Project publication that combines hands-on tools for change with community recipes and political awareness to engage you in joining in the struggle for food justice! Our Food, Our Right promotes community knowledge sharing, self-sufficiency, accessibility, and food justice through a food sovereignty framework. For more information see: http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/get-involved/cagjstore/

The Food Justice Project published our first edition of this guide in November, and now we are looking to continue with additional projects surrounding the guide. Some things the group will be taking on are distribution of subsidized copies to ally organizations, maintaining relationships with businesses currently selling OFOR and replenishing copies when necessary, and beginning discussions about the future of the guide and where it can evolve from here.

We would love to have your help! If you are interested in getting involved with this committee please email Maria at rodriguezme08@gmail.com

Thanks!

Maria Rodriguez
FJP Co-Coordinator

6/25/10, by Reid Mukai, CAGJ Co-Chair

Workshops:

Social Movement Strategies and Tactics for Rebuilding Local Food Economies

Keeping it Real: Embodying Alliance in the Quest for Real Food

PMA: Food Sovereignty

I got an early start since I carpooled with Heather, Travis, Yecelica and Maria in the morning, so we stopped at a great “hippy” coffeeshop and bakery called “Avalon” where I got a cup of tea and a breakfast sandwich. The first workshop of the day was Social Movement Strategies and Tactics for Rebuilding Local Food Economies, organized by Agricultural Missions. Steven Bartlett was the main moderator, but also present were Luca Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Via Campesina represtatives from Honduras and Nicaragua, a farmer from the Dominican Republic and Haitian members of Collective of Wise Women, Popular Democratic Movement, Via Campesina and Papay Peasants’ Movement. The structure of the workshop was pretty loose, allowing both questions and answers from all of the participants in the room. There were many questions, but one of the main themes was “what is the best way to support worker’s struggles around the world?”. The diverse range of possible solutions included:

• build broader social movement
• stronger fair trade associations
• an international alliance of CSAs
• educate and influence political leaders
• instill culture of health among youth
• unite allied groups and individuals in a coordinated manner
• let corporations know what they do right as well as what they do wrong
• and a people’s tribunal for corporations such as Monsanto

The next workshop on the list was Keeping it Real: Embodying Alliance in the Quest for Real Food, organized by Navina Khanna and Lloyd Nadal of Food For the People. The opening question posed by Navina was “how can we amplify voices of different groups and form a collective vision?”, and much of the following conversation centered on possible answers. Related ideas that our group came up with included developing and connecting land stewardship programs, urban farm hubs, anti-oppression workshops as part of urban gardens, organic food distribution contracts with family-owned urban convenience stores and outreach to youth using music, poetry, visual art and digital media.

After this workshop I walked over to the “Tent Village” area several blocks west of the Cobo building to attend a second Food Sovereignty People’s Movement Assembly, also moderated by Steven Bartlett. When I arrived, a Food First organizer was discussing the importance of seed sovereignty. He viewed indigenous agricultural communities as valuable storehouses of generations of knowledge about seeds and food. Not long after, we formed break-out groups to brainstorm different aspects of a proposed Food Justice Alliance. The following is the list of group discussion topics and a sampling of some of the ideas from each (the group I was in was Values/Principles):

Structure and Implementation: Should there be individual membership? Create subcommittee focused on membership and structure. Expand coordinating committee and working groups.

Values/Principles: Everyone has right to real food. Respect for inherent value of life and natural systems, cultural diversity and biodiversity. Commitment to anti-oppression principles. International solidarity between youth, workers, activists and agricultural communities. Develop leadership and decentralize power. Localize food systems.

Outreach/Organizing: Outreach for Food Justice Alliance continuing at future USSFs. Networking through existing relationships, phone banks, email lists, and regional workgroups. Develop goals and membership criteria.

Action Agenda: Mobilize around issue of climate change. Fight against land grabs. Organize networking visits.

Heather joined the PMA after I got there, so when the assembly ended we carpooled back to the Cobo building with Dean and Clare, two great organizers and PMA participants from California. At Cobo we reconnected with Travis, Yecelica and Maria then carpooled to the Mexico Town district for dinner. Before going in the restaurant we admired a beautiful mural on a wall across the street in the process of being painted by USSF attendees from Brooklyn. After dinner I was feeling tired so returned to Cobo to do a little writing and check the news before going back to the office/house, meanwhile, the rest of the group partied hard at the USSF’s Leftist Lounge.

6/26/10, by Reid Mukai, CAGJ Co-Chair

Workshop: Detroit Highlighted: Detroit Black Community Food Security Network / Earthworks Urban Farm

It was hard for me to believe it was the last day of the USSF. That morning Shankara and I had breakfast at the solidarity housing and caught the bus to the Cobo building for a workshop called Detroit Highlighted: Detroit Black Community Food Security Network / Earthworks Urban Farm. This was actually a shared workshop highlighting the work of the Detroit Black Community Network and Earthworks, a project of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, which shares some of the same staff. Some of the same speakers from the first USSF workshop I attended were there such as Lila Campbell, Patrick Crouch and Dr. Monica White. Monica spoke first, talking about the mission of Detroit Black Community Food Network (DBCFN) and how food access is their focus but it’s just one aspect of their goal of self-determination. She outlined some of the major problems Detroit’s citizens struggle against, such as unemployment (approx. 35-50% unemployment rate), foreclosures and a weak local economy (out of the city’s 140 square miles, approximately 40 square miles are vacant) and lack of access to fresh and healthy food (Detroit’s last chain grocery store closed in 2007). To address these issues, DBCFN has organized programs that mobilize people to buy locally, develop youth activism and leadership, created a citizen’s food policy council, and established D-Town farms, a 2.5 acre plot in a neighborhood park with 37-40 crops. Patrick Crouch, also a member of DBCFN, then spoke about Earthworks Urban Farm, a community garden that focuses on food access but also educates and engages the community. Projects they organize through the farm include the Healthy Stores Initiative (a partnership with Wayne State University that brings fresh produce to stores that traditionally offer processed foods, alcohol and cigarettes), and the Garden Resource Program, which distributes educational materials, seed and gardening supplies to students. Following Patrick Crouch’s talk was a powerful anti-oppression excercize led by Lila Campbell, which explained why being anti-racist is never passive and is always an ongoing process. This incorporated an open discussion about what is racist and anti-racist leading to a wider conversation about environmental racism, impact of race on Detroit’s history and present, gentrification and land grabs, state and city policy, and alliances with indigenous peoples, the original stewards of the land.

After doing a little sight-seeing after the workshop, I regrouped with Heather, Travis, Yecelica, Maria and Masha, for dinner and coffee. We were all almost deleriously exhausted by the end of the evening but had fun talking about events of the week and any random thing that popped up. After I got dropped off at the solidarity housing I was surprised to find the place was now nearly empty except for Shankara and two other people.

6/27/10, by Reid Mukai, CAGJ Co-Chair

The Day After USSF

I woke up late, enjoyed the peace and quiet of the near-empty office building and got my things packed for the flight back to Seattle later that night. For the past couple of nights Shankara and I were borrowing a couple of camping air mattresses from Travis and Heather, so they stopped by briefly to pick them up. While waiting in the parking lot I met a rapper named Majestic from New York, who told me some great stories about the USSF party I missed on Friday which he performed at. We also got into a good conversation about road trips when Heather and Travis arrived since he was thinking of touring through the midwest and west coast. After they left I had brunch with Shankara at the Avalon coffeeshop down the street, and after that it was another bus ride to the airport and then the flight back home.

Thinking back on the past week at the USSF, I feel inspired by the numerous informative workshops, people I’ve met, and their wealth of ideas and experiences. It’s a rare opportunity to meet many people from a wide range of states and nations (including Detroit locals) working to create a better world in so many different ways. The USSF brings together an analysis of local and global problems from a diverse range of perspectives, making it easier to see connections between various issues as well as ways groups and individuals could potentially collaborate, share information and strategies, and form alliances to stand up to institutions that are often the source of problems (ie. corporations and governments). After days of workshops, the many struggles of the modern world may seem overwhelmingly complex and intertwined, but the multitude of ongoing and future projects organized by allied groups interacting at the forum give reason for hope.

Note: You know how much you paid for your tool better than we do but in case you can’t remember the numbers in parentheses are what they sell for at Gardener’s Supply/Lowe’s online.  The price is listed so you may claim the tax deductible donation.

More information from the Organic Farmers Action Network:

Stop Genetically Engineered Alfalfa
Call your Members of Congress Today

Despite overwhelming public opposition, USDA is considering lifting the ban on genetically engineered alfalfa. Approval of GE alfalfa is likely to lead to genetic contamination of organic and non-GE alfalfa, causing economic harm to organic farmers and further reducing all farmers’ seed options.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) are circulating a Congressional ‘Dear Colleague’ letter in the House and Senate, asking USDA to maintain the ban on genetically engineered alfalfa. Contact your Members of Congress TODAY and urge them to sign onto this letter.

Contact Info

Phone Rap

Additional talking points are below. Let us know how your call went – contact Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer: tracy@ofrf.org.

Background

In 2005, environmental groups successfully sued the USDA over its deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa, arguing that USDA did not consider the environmental impacts of this crop. The courts banned GE alfalfa and ordered USDA to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, for the crop.

USDA released its draft EIS for GE alfalfa in late 2009. Their EIS admits that, if GE alfalfa is approved:

• GE Contamination of non-GE and organic alfalfa crops will occur.
• GE contamination will cause negative economic impacts for organic and non-GE alfalfa farmers.
• Foreign export markets will be at risk due to rejection of GE contaminated products.
• Farmers will be forced to use more toxic herbicides to remove old stands of alfalfa.

Unfortunately, USDA has decided that these impacts are insignificant and intends to de-regulate GE alfalfa anyway.

Tell Your Congress Member that you DO NOT support the deregulation of GE alfalfa, because:

• GE contamination of non-GE and organic crops would be inevitable.
• You won’t buy products that are GE-contaminated.
• Alfalfa is a major food source for livestock. GE alfalfa would destroy the integrity of organic dairy.
• You support rights of farmers to grow crops of their choice — GE contamination makes that impossible.
• GE crops increase pesticide use, harming human health and the environment.

More Information

Congressional ‘Dear Colleague’ letter urging USDA to ban GE
Extensive backgrounder from the National Organic Coalition
Ten Good Reasons why GMOs are not Compatible with Organic Agriculture

Lede: Organic non-GMO foods aren’t just the preference of countries in the so-called developed North. 40,000 tons of GMO-grown maize was recently rejected in Kenya. Protestors are making sure it remains stuck in the port city ofMombassa. Jos Ngonyo, with Kenya’s Biodiversity Coalition spoke to Green Acre Radio in a recent visit to Seattle. Ngonyo spoke about why small-scale farmers reject the Green Revolution in Africa and about “dysfunctional aid”. The Gates Foundation helped launch the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa four years ago.
 
Narration: With Green Acre Radio this is Martha Baskin. There’s a tradition in Kenya. When maize, the locally grown corn eaten at every meal is harvested, farmers select the best seeds. “THEY WOULD ACTUALLY PUT IT ABOVE THE FIREPLACE SO THAT THE FIRE WILL CONTINUALLY WARM THESE SEEDS.” Jos Ngonyo, with Kenya’s Biodiversity Coalition, explains the procedure in a rare visit to Washington State. “AND THEY WOULD PLANT THOSE SEEDS AND INDEED THE CROP WOULD BE A FINE CROP.” A farmer without seeds, says Ngono, would borrow from other farmers. Today the tradition is under threat. Genetically modified crops have been introduced. “NOW WE’RE HAVING THESE SEEDS FROM MONSANTO, THE BIOTECH SEEDS THAT ACTUALLY THEY’RE PATENTED. YOU CANNOT REPLANT. YOU CANNOT HARVEST AND STORE BEFORE REPLANTING YOU’RE JUST TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON MONSANTO.” Genetically modified corn, says Ngonyo, contaminates indigenous maize, because of cross pollination.Kenya’s Agriculture Research Institute used to concentrate on seeds good for the environment, says Ngonyo, but now their focus is biotech seeds. “THIS IS A BIG THREAT TO THE LIVELIHOOD AND AS YOU KNOW THIS IS NOT THE WAY FORWARD.”
 
But it appears to be the way forward for AGRA, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Four years ago the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation to launch AGRA. Their strategy was explained in the report, “Africa’s Turn: The New Green Revolution for the 21st Century”. The report emphasized hybrid and genetically engineered seeds, chemical fertilizers, training agricultural scientists for crop improvements and agricultural reforms. Jos Ngonyo, recipient of the Eastern Africa Environmental Leadership Award wasn’t scheduled to meet with the Gates Foundation during his visit. He says he would have welcomed the opportunity to explain why he thinks AGRA is a bad idea. “AGRA DID NOT INVOLVE THE PEOPLE IN AFRICA.THIS WAS AN IDEA PUSHED TO AFRICA AND THAT DOES NOT WORK. IT’S NOT ABOUT US WITHOUT US.” Ngonyo says people are so aware in the world “YOU CANNOT JUST BRING AN IDEOLOGY FROM OUTSIDE AND PUSH. THEY’LL ONLY TAKE IT FOR SOMETIME AND THEN REBEL AGAINST IT.”
 
In early April, protestors, lead by Kenya’s Biodiversity Coalition, rejected 40,000 tons of genetically modified maize grown in South Africa. The maize remains blocked at the port city of Mombassa. Protestors say the maize is a springboard to contaminate non-GMO crops. Again coalition representative, Jos Ngonyo, “WE ACHIEVED BLOCKING THE CONSIGNMENT THAT WAS COMING IN.  ACTUALLY IT’S ILLEGAL TO COME TO KENYA BECAUSE WE DON’T HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO DEAL WITH THAT.” Kenya, explains Ngonyo, has no way to protect indigenous crops from GMO crops. Health impacts are also a concern. “A LOT OF PEER REVIEWED SURVEYS AND RESEARCH HAVE SHOWN THAT THIS MAIZE SUPPRESSES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM, CANCERS, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. ANOTHER IMPACT IS FERTILITY.” Kenya should follow the European Union and proceed cautiously, urges Ngonyo. “IN SOME PLACES THEY’VE BEEN BANNED LIKE IN FRANCE.”
 
The title of Jos Ngonyo’s talk during his visit was “Dysfunctional Aid and Misplaced Philanthropy: African Farmers Respond to the Green Revolution in Africa.” He gave the following example. Africa’s Agriculture Technology Foundation received $43 million from the Gates Foundation to develop genetically engineered “water efficient maize”. ‘WE HAVE WATER EFFICIENT MAIZE THAT DID REALLY WELL. IT’S CALLED KATUMANI.” That’s k-a-t-u-m-a-n-i. “AND THIS BREED DID VERY WELL. IT WAS GROWN IN DRY AREAS AND IT TAKES ONLY THREE MONTHS AND PEOPLE HAVE FOOD TO EAT.” But katumani was gradually abandoned when Kenya’s Agricultural Research Association switched its focus to GMO seeds. “SO WE NEED TO LOOK AT WHAT WORKS. WHICH SEEDS ARE BEST FOR WHICH SEASON AND ENCOURAGE THOSE AND BILL GATES FOUNDATION CAN PUT MONEY THERE.” People inAfrica welcome aid from the Gates Foundation, he says. “THEY MAY BE MEANING WELL BUT THEY’RE MISDIRECTED. IF THEY KNEW THE TRUTH AND HAD MEETINGS WITH FARMERS ON THE GROUND THEY WOULD PROBABLY PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE IT’S NEEDED MOST AND MAKE IMPACT THAT WOULD BE POSITIVE TO THE SMALL SCALE FARMERS.” 95% of Kenyons are small scale farmers.
 
A 2008 UN- sponsored report, The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, called for urgent changes in the way food is produced. Soaring food prices are at risk of driving millions into poverty. 400 experts spent three years researching the report. Again Jos Ngonyo, “THAT REPORT RULED OUT GMO’S AND STRONGLY RECOMMENDED ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AS THE WAY TO GO TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY.” 
 
Jos Ngonyo’s visit to the area was sponsored by AGRA Watch, a non-profit that supports farmers self-determination and food sovereignty. For more information go to seattleglobaljustice.org/agra-watch.
 
Green Acre Radio is brought to you with support from the Human Links Foundation and the Russell Family Foundation. Engineering by CJ Lazenby. From the studios of Jack Straw Productions and KBCS, this is Martha Baskin.

PLEASE SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT BE INTERESTED.
 
Hi Everyone, it is that time again that we need volunteers for the Clean Greens Farm. This Saturday May 8 and all Saturdays thereafter. A bus will leave 124 -21st Ave in Seattle at 8:30 AM and will return from the farm 2:30 or 3:00 PM. If you would like to drive the address is 20121 West Snoqualmie River Road NE. Duvall, WA. You may volunteer at the farm Tuesday through Saturday. Some one will be there to assist you. I would like to know if you are going to the farm so I can notify the farm manager. We appreciate anyone that can help us. call me at 206-324-3114 or e-mail me at contact@blackdollar.org. Please bring a snack. We will supply the water. You may need rubber boots because sometime it is a little muddy. Thanks you so much. Lottie Cross, volunteer coordinator.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 13 April 2010
CONTACTS:
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, PhD, Pesticide Action Network North America, 415-981-6205, ext.325; mie@panna.org
 
Annie Shattuck, Food First/Institute for Food & Development Policy, 510-654-4400, ext.223; shattuck@foodfirst.org

Kathy Ozer, National Family Farm Coalition, 202-543-5675, kozer@nffc.net

Mariam Mayet, African Center for Biosafety, cell +27 83 269 4309; land +27 11 646 0699, mariammayet@mweb.co.za
 
100+ Groups Join Scientists and Development Experts in Urging Senate to “Strip the GM Mandate” from the Global Food Security Act

Controversial language said more likely to feed biotech corporations than the world’s poor

SAN FRANCISCO and JOHANNESBURG — Experts, scientists and advocates from around the world petitioned the U.S. Senate today in a concerted attempt to strip what they term a “stealth corporate giveaway” embedded in a foreign aid bill which is expected to hit the Senate floor soon. The “Global Food Security Act” (S.384), sponsored by Senators Casey (D-PA) and Lugar (R-IN), is intended to reform aid programs to focus on longer-term agricultural development, and restructure aid agencies to better respond to crises. While lauding the bill’s intentions, the petitioners object to a clause effectively earmarking one agricultural technology (genetically modified – GM crops) for potentially billions of dollars in federal funding. $7.7 billion in U.S. funds are associated with the bill and no other farming methods or technologies are mentioned.

Monsanto has lobbied more than any other interest in support of this bill. The company is one of two or three dominant corporations in the increasingly concentrated biotechnology industry likely to benefit from the new research funding stream as well as from future profits from their patented products (both seeds and pesticides).

Today, scientists, development experts spanning a dozen countries, and 100+ groups representing anti-hunger, family farm, farmworker, consumer and sustainable agriculture delivered a letter urging the Senate to reject the “Global Food Security Act” until the bill is made technology-neutral. Their specific concern: language in the bill that would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to read “Agricultural research carried out under this Act shall . . . include research on biotechnological advances appropriate to local ecological conditions, including gm technology.”

“The bill’s focus on genetically modified technology simply makes no sense,” stated Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Senior Scientist at Pesticide Action Network. “Independent science tells us that genetically modified (GM) crops have neither increased yield nor reduced hunger in the world. The most credible and comprehensive assessments of agriculture to date say that if we want to end global poverty and hunger, we’ll need to focus on increasing the biodiversity and ecological resilience of small-scale farming systems.”

“Here in Africa, pressure to import GM crops is wreaking havoc on our local economies,” explained Mariam Mayet of the African Center for Biosafety. “In South Africa, we are now dumping GM corn into other countries, disrupting local markets and undermining the livelihoods of family farmers there.  As a result, Zimbabwe has imposed a ban on GM corn imports, and Kenya—which has a bumper crop of GM-free corn and doesn’t need any imports—is now grappling with a massive, illegal and unwanted shipment of 280,000 metric tons of GM corn from South Africa. A handful of powerful agribusinesses’ obsession with GM is pitting African countries against each other, with Monsanto and international grain traders reaping the benefits and ordinary farmers losing out. The last thing we need from the U.S. is a bill legislating yet more money for GM crops.”

Concerned groups and individuals note that if Congress singles out one technology and attaches it to a pool of foreign aid money, the pressure on developing countries to ignore other priorities and scientifically valid options—and to open their markets to that one technology—will be substantial.

“At the end of the day, the GM mandate has more to do with breaking open markets for American biotech corporations than fighting hunger,” explained Annie Shattuck of the Institute for Food and Development Policy. “To get at the root of the global hunger crisis, we need to tackle poverty, something no technological silver bullet can ever do.”

Ben Burkett, National Family Farm Coalition president and Mississippi family farmer, added, “Corporate control over inputs and the free trade agenda have destroyed the livelihoods of so many farmers at home and abroad. That’s why farmers worldwide are calling for food sovereignty—the right to choose fair and sustainable farming practices that protect our local food and livelihood security. This is what works best for our farms and communities.”

The letter delivered to senators today calls for agricultural research funding to be focused on addressing local challenges faced by small-scale farmers, instead of mandating a specific and narrow technological fix—particularly one with little prospect of success and increasingly rejected by countries around the world.

The bill was passed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 31, 2009 and the Senate is expected to vote on it soon.

RESOURCES:
Letter to Senators from 140 organizations, independent scientists and development experts delivered April 13, 2010.

Come one come all! Friday, April 23rd, for one night only, the P-Patch House (where I live) will turn into an underground restaurant and folk music venue. We’re doing this to fundraise for Spring Into Bed (springintobed.org), a grassroots, city-wide day of garden-bed building, including food justice gardens for low-income families. Here’s what you can expect to enjoy:

6:00 to 8:00: Secret Cafe
Arrive anytime between 6 and 8 and tuck into a delicious, four-course, home-made, local/organic-focused meal, served at your table by the P-Patch’s finest for only $10 (local wine and home-brewed beer also available for purchase)

9:00 ’til you drop: Concert
Listen and get down to the fine strummin’ fiddlin’ and hollerin’ of local folk artists Nettle Honey, Junk Bones, and Mostly Neighbors – entrance is $5, and more homebrew will be on tap

Can’t wait to see you all there! RSVP via email (ppatchhouse@gmail.com) or our Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113499572009005

Love,
Laura Brady
Co-Coordinator, Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice

In his 2011 budget, President Obama proposed $345 million for a Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) to dramatically improve access to healthy foods in underserved communities across the country. (HFFI is also one of the four pillars of The First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative to reduce childhood obesity.) With more than 23 million Americans without access to healthy foods, this initiative is desperately needed to reduce obesity and bring needed jobs and investment to low-income urban and rural communities.

The HFFI combines one-time loan and grant financing to leverage private investment with public funds. HFFI is modeled after a successful program in Pennsylvania in which a $30 million investment by the state led to $190 million in total project costs, and resulted in 83 markets in underserved communities across the state, improved access to healthy food for more than 400,000 people, and more than 5,000 jobs. President Obama’s proposed initiative would increase the availability of healthy foods, take an important step in the fight against obesity, create tens of thousands of much needed retail and construction jobs, and revitalize low-income communities and communities of color suffering most during these hard economic times.

Congress needs to act to make the President’s proposed HFFI a reality. Contact your legislator now and ask them to support HFFI!

From the USDA Food Environment Atlas website:

The U.S. Food Environment Atlas

Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics—interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions.

Objectives of the Atlas:

• To assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality
• To provide a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so

This tool maps:
 
·         Access and proximity to grocery stores
·         Availability of food stores
·         Availability of restaurants
·         Expenditures of food at restaurants
·         Food assistance
·         Food eaten at home
·         Food insecurity
·         Food prices (at stores, not restaurants)
·         Food taxes
·         Health
·         Local foods
·         Physical activity levels & outlets
·         Socioeconomic characteristics
 
Click here to view the tool: http://maps.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/