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“The world we want is one where many worlds fit.”
– Zapatistas, indigenous-led liberation group in southern Mexico, quoted in adrienne maree brown's Emergent StrategyDefinitions
Definitions
What is a community food assessment (CFA)?
What is a community food assessment (CFA)?
Two commonly accepted definitions describe Community Food Assessments (CFA) as processes to gather information from various community perspectives on the local food systems in order to identify policy and program improvements.
“The goal of a community food assessment (CFA) is to improve a community’s food system via increased access to healthy food. A CFA gathers information about residents’ perceptions of the food environment and their food shopping behaviors.
This information can be used to best direct the efforts of community organizations, nonprofits and policymakers that want to improve healthy food access. CFAs also provide a tool for raising awareness of food system deficits and opportunities, and give evidence of the community’s needs that residents can use to advocate for effective policy and programs.”
“A community food assessment (CFA) is a way to understand how a local food system is working from multiple viewpoints within each sector and across all sectors. It provides a snapshot of the successes and challenges within our local food system and can be used to improve or develop programs that focus on the opportunities and needs within the food system.”
What is an Equitable Community Food Assessment (ECFA)?
What is an Equitable Community Food Assessment (ECFA)?
The Michigan Good Food Charter defines an equitable food system as a system that “...promotes just and fair inclusion in a society where all people can participate, prosper, and have the power to make decisions.”
An equity centered community food assessment (ECFA) is a collaborative and liberatory process that systematically examines a range of community food assets in deep harmony with humanity and the land around us in order to inform social and economic change and begin the process of strengthening a healthy food system.
Food Sovereignty Assessments
Food Sovereignty Assessments
ECFAs may integrate food sovereignty as part of the process and framework, but are not necessarily the same as a food sovereignty assessment.
The First Nations Development Institute provides a definition:
“Also referred to as a “community food assessment” in other communities, a food sovereignty assessment (FSA) is a collaborative and participative process that systematically examines a range of community food assets in order to inform social and economic change and begin the process of strengthening a food system. The FSA takes a solutions-oriented approach that looks at assets and resources as well as problems.
This process has the potential to truly promote local food-system control by increasing knowledge about food-related needs and resources, and by building collaboration and capacity. Using a participatory approach that advocates for community control of the food system, FSAs can (and should) be conducted by communities and their members.”
Purpose
Purpose
Why conduct an Equitable Community Food Assessment?
Why conduct an Equitable Community Food Assessment?
Practicing an equitable community food assessment benefits the community because it strives for representation.
Practicing an equitable community food assessment benefits the community because it strives for representation.
The U.S. food system has both shaped and been shaped by racial injustice since its inception. Systemic factors—including a range of racialized policies—have contributed to persistent inequities in food and agriculture.
These policies are central to understanding the roots of racial disparities in the food system. For instance, in areas hard hit by policies, such as redlining and lack of neighborhood investment, we often see a shortage of grocery stores. Likewise, patterns in farmland ownership have roots in slavery and lack of subsequent reparations.
Finding the right solutions begins with asking the right questions and centering equity provides a frame.
Typical food assessments may highlight access issues or land ownership statistics, but often overlook the upstream policies—like redlining or the denial of reparations—that created these conditions. Equity framing strives to be holistic in its approach, considering both root causes and impacts that manifest in the food system.
These root causes not only shape current inequities but also inform the solutions needed to address them. Taking an equity-centered approach to community food assessments helps keep the scope practical while acknowledging the deeper systemic causes.
How the ECFA Works
How the ECFA Works
While the process of conducting an ECFA is not always linear, it can be helpful to break things down into stages and steps. There will be more details in the next section, but below is an overview of the entire process.
Assess your Readiness
Plan for the ECFA
Conduct the ECFA
Create an Action Plan based on ECFA Findings
Implement the Plan through Collaborative Action
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