Embedded Files
Review the checklist below for an overview of the full process. Revisit this section with your core team to explore the tools as your project evolves.
The ECFA Process
The ECFA Process
No matter where you begin, the ECFA will help you look at:
No matter where you begin, the ECFA will help you look at:
Who is at the table
What our top priorities are
What assets we have
What strategies are feasible
Participatory design allows us to:
Participatory design allows us to:
Work beyond present circumstances
Recognize and respond to patterns
Bring meaning to processes
ECFAs are not exactly a Linear Process
ECFAs are not exactly a Linear Process
Depending on where you enter the process, if you already have an idea of your community boundaries and/or specific issues you’re hoping to address, you may not need to use all the tools and steps outlined in this toolkit.
However, if a process to help you define your community, the priorities and strategies to address challenges, there are plenty of tools in this toolkit to help you.
What is most important is to get started!
Stages & Steps
Stages & Steps
Stage One: Build your Core Team
Stage One: Build your Core Team
Assess/Re-assess your readiness for an Equitable Community Food Assessment (ECFA)
Establish the CFA team and roles
Define the purpose of the CFA
Identify the “community” of interest
Scan your food ecosystem – conducting a robust food landscape
Create a map of the community food environment
Stage Two: Plan for Community Outreach & Engagement
Stage Two: Plan for Community Outreach & Engagement
Confirm the scope of the community of interest and food system sectors to be included
Identify key stakeholder groups whose input should be solicited
Create a community engagement plan
Stage Three: Gather Data through Community Engagement & Outreach
Stage Three: Gather Data through Community Engagement & Outreach
Identify appropriate indicators or measures and data sources
Determine data collection methods
Estimate timeline and resources needed
Gather data
Stage Four: Move from Ideas to Action Planning
Stage Four: Move from Ideas to Action Planning
Analyze data
Synthesize learnings into an action plan
Disseminate results
Readiness Checklist
Readiness Checklist
The readiness checklist is designed to help groups considering and ECFA think through some key concepts and components of the initiative before they begin. However, these tools will be useful again when the core team has been organized. Revisit them as needed!
❑ Understanding the Michigan Good Food Charter & Food Systems
❑ Understanding the Michigan Good Food Charter & Food Systems
Start with the information and the tools Michigan Good Food Charter and the subsequent Food Systems sections. This will help you and your team familiarize yourselves with the Charter and explore how your work and goals are reflected in the recommended actions and strategies.
❑ Explore Community Engagement Strategies
❑ Explore Community Engagement Strategies
Explore the tools below to gauge your relationships and engagement on your community projects, partnerships, initiatives, and programs.
Encourages organizations/local food councils to consider the level/quality of engagement with the community it serves.
Charts a pathway to strengthen and transform our local democracies. Thriving, diverse, equitable communities are possible through deep participation, particularly by communities commonly excluded from democratic voice and power.
❑ Discuss Power in Community and your Local Food System
❑ Discuss Power in Community and your Local Food System
Use the tools below to explore and discuss different types of power, how power operates, what it looks like in community settings and within the self.
"All About Power" by Srilatha Batliwala is an accessible guide to understanding social power and power structures that influence and impact communities. This resource will help your team unpack the ways different types of power operate and reflect on how these structures can inform or disrupt your ECFA process.
This tool will guide your team through a power mapping analysis to inform your campaign strategy with a thorough picture of the players, and their power. It runs step by step through a collaborative exercise where your team can all contribute to a visual map of power holders and power relationships affecting your issue and campaign.
❑ Review the Grounding Materials
❑ Review the Grounding Materials
In the next section, you'll find tools and materials to help you ground yourself in an equity-centered mindset, offering considerations for group development before you get started.
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