Biden Administration to help Sacramento create community ‘hubs’ with locally sourced food, job training

Sacramento (June 2, 2021) - The Biden Administration has announced that Sacramento is one of 13 communities selected to participate in Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP), a federally funded program that supports community-led efforts to reinvest in existing neighborhoods, protects the environment, and improves residents’ health and quality of life through the development of the local food economy.

Through LFLP, a team of federally employed agricultural, environmental, public health and regional economic development experts will work directly with the Office of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Alchemist Community Development Corporation, Planting Justice, the Sacramento Food Policy Council, and other community leaders to create Food-Anchored Resiliency Hubs in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

These hubs will provide training to prepare and sell locally-sourced food, demonstrate sustainability practices in materials and operations, and provide training, employment an entrepreneurship opportunities. The project will focus on three key sites: the Alchemist Kitchen Incubator Hub, the former City Tree Nursery in Mangan Park, and the International Garden of Many Colors in north Sacramento.

The hubs will also serve as community gathering places and resources in case of emergency. The technical assistance provided by LFLP will get them to the point where they can seek funding for buildout.

“Through our food-anchored resiliency hubs, the City will use the power of gathering to provide nutritious, locally-grown food, educate our residents, launch new businesses and build more resilience in our most disadvantaged neighborhoods and create a national model to reduce food insecurity, inspire entrepreneurs and adapt to a changing climate.” –Darrell Steinberg, Mayor, Sacramento

"We firmly believe the sort of resilience that helps a community to survive a disaster only exists when a community cultivates daily resilience,” “Our most vulnerable neighbors suffer small-scale personal disasters on a regular basis. If we can learn to work together to help all of our neighbors thrive day-to-day, we will develop the resilience we need for the bigger challenges in the future." - Sam Greenlee, Executive Director, Alchemist Community Development Corporation.

"Planting Justice is excited about the opportunity to have those that are most system impacted including food insecurity working to provide a farm to fork experience right in their own neighborhoods." – Gavin Raders, Co-Founder + Co-Director, Planting Justice

"We are excited to support and develop food system policies that are just and equitable for this and future generations. Together, we can seize the opportunity to mitigate climate change impacts by prioritizing food access and environmental justice at the neighborhood level." — Brenda Ruiz, President, Sacramento Food Policy Council

This year, LFLP is sponsored jointly by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service, with multiple federal agencies planning to participate. The 13 LFLP communities selected in 2021 were chosen from among 97 applicants. Since its launch in 2014, LFLP has helped more than 120 communities across the country develop local food enterprises, such as farmers markets, community gardens and cooperative grocery stores, using a place-based approach that improves environmental, economic, and health outcomes in downtowns and neighborhoods. The program pays special attention to overcoming economic challenges, improving equity, and tackling climate change and other factors that can hinder revitalization efforts and residents’ access to more affordable healthy food.

Alchemist CDC
Alchemist CDC is a 501(c)3 organization that connects communities to land, food and opportunity toward a vision in which all Sacramento neighborhoods are vibrant, equitable, healthy and diverse. The team is developing the Alchemist Public Market, a project which drives inclusive economic development; creates a community gathering place; boosts economic opportunities for local farmers and main street businesses, and improves access to healthy, local food among disadvantaged communities.

Planting Justice
Planting Justice is a grassroots organization based in Oakland, CA, with a mission to empower people impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice and community healing. Planting Justice is the lead agency to coordinate reuse of the former City Tree Nursery.

Sacramento Food Policy Council
Sacramento Food Policy Council is a not for profit organization whose mission is to propel collective action toward an equitable and sustainable food system by building alignment, advancing policies, and convening advocates, policymakers, and organizations around a shared agenda. Sacramento Food Policy Council currently partners with the City of Sacramento Department of Youth, Parks, & Community Enrichment through an MOU to manage the International Garden of Many Colors project, a 2.47 acre community garden space housing over 50 plots where low income families practice subsistence farming to address their own food insecurity.

For more information about Local Foods, Local Places, visit: https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/local-foods-local-places

For more information about LFLP communities selected in 2021, visit: https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/local-foods-local-places#2021