Santa Barbara County Food Action Network – Our First Newsletter

Welcome to the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network’s first newsletter! We appreciate your time and attention in a year filled with new information coming at you by the minute. Rest assured the content will be relevant, inclusive, informative, and valuable to both you as an individual and our community Countywide. The quarterly newsletter will include: a feature on recent collaborative activation of Food Action Plan goals; a community profile in Santa Barbara County that is building food system resilience; upcoming events and funding opportunities; ways to take action.

New Funding Opportunity

Food System Resilience Grants

Santa Barbara County Food Action Network Fall Food System Resilience Grants are given to support the achievement of Food Action Plan goals by contributing to the broader food systems of Santa Barbara County. In the near term, organizations supported by these funds will be able to activate and expand their current objectives. In the longer term, funds will collectively build a resilient Countywide food system. The collective action of food system change makers will build the solutions we need now.

The funds, provided by the Santa Barbara Foundation, are awarded by the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network in partnership with the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, through a process of research, planning, due diligence and evaluation. The network consults with an external volunteer committee whose expertise ensures an equitable and impact driven approach to the review process.

The application opens TODAY, Tuesday, October 13, and is due on November 10, 2020.

To learn more about the grant, including criteria and application information, please go to sbcfoodaction.org/grants, or view the Information Session:

Community Profile

The Cuyama Valley

Just on the other side of Los Padres National Forest from Santa Barbara proper, as the crow flies east, lies the hidden valley of Cuyama. A place like no other, Cuyama Valley sits at the crossroads of four different counties, and is made up of magical grasslands, canyons filled with soaring California oaks and native wildflowers, a variety of farms and ranches, and roughly 1,100 residents across three unincorporated townsites: New Cuyama, Cuyama, and Ventucopa.

The future of food and agriculture in the Valley is at the forefront of conversation in this high desert community, which relies on a single groundwater reserve for its water supply.

Community Food & Farming Discussion Series

Our Fall Community Food & Farming Discussion Series will highlight local food system leaders and efforts throughout the County, cultivate discussion on local food system needs and challenges, and present opportunities to create a more resilient and equitable foodshed. Our panelists will include representatives from the non-profit, public, and private sectors. This series will take place over three virtual discussion events, and is FREE and open to the public. Each session will include 60 minutes of discussion with our panelists, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. Live Spanish interpretation will be available.

The SBCFAN Community Food & Farming Discussion Series is made possible by our local community partner and sponsor, Impact Family Office.

Food Access & Food Security - October 29 - noon

Food Access & Food Security
October 29
12:00pm

How do we (and how can we better) meet the basic food needs of our entire community and ensure fair access to local food resources? REGISTER

Food Sovereignty & Food Justice
November 11
5:30pm

How do we (and how can we better) reclaim community-based power and agency in our food system, and embrace the diversity of local food cultures? REGISTER

Local Farms & Local Food
December 2
Time TBD

How do we (and how can we better) support local food production and cultivate localized food infrastructure and distribution? REGISTRATION OPEN SOON

New Working Groups

Working Groups are cross sector collaborations made up of individuals with vested interest, organizations, institutions, or enterprises with a shared goal and objectives. They drive the work of the Santa Barbara County Food Action Network by addressing identified Food Action Plan goal(s).

The following Working Groups are facilitated by the Network beginning this year:

Victory Gardens/Community Grown Agriculture
CalFresh Expansion
Community Kitchens & Cold Storage
Food As Medicine

For more information about joining these Working Groups, or if you’d like to learn how to start one of your own, please go to sbcfoodaction.org/working-groups.