Model and Strategy
The Roots Farm Project is more than the creation of a dynamic urban farm in a petroleum town in one of the hardest hit urban areas of the San Francisco Bay; it is also the first step in building a working example of a sustainable and just Regional Food System.
This project will continue on a 30 year journey to shorten supply chains, reduce energy use, carbon emissions and food waste; support small local farmers, preserve rural farmland, sequester carbon by restoring the fecundity of both rural, and urban soils, restore relationships and the knowledge exchange between urban and rural communities; increase access to affordable, whole, nutrient dense and chemical free foods to nurture low income minority families and employ and train local residents to lead in all aspects of this system from farming, to packing, to retail sales and community-based nutrition and health education, so there is no forgotten knowledge, no wasted resources and no wasted people.
Impact
This project has the potential to build community wealth by creating a fully functional, 3 acre farm with self-sustaining social enterprises that employ and train local residents. It has the potential to transform the considerable inventory of smaller scale commercial retail spaces into a thriving network of healthy corner stores supplied by the regional farmer cooperative and a network of added value micro-enterprises. It also has the potential of creating new direct markets for small regional producers and increased urban support for transitioning more land into sustainable production and the potential to increase local producer access to procurement departments of urban anchor institutions, such as Kaiser Hospital or the West Contra Costa Unified School District.
Leadership
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Robinson Doria
Collective Member / Executive Director