News & Events
Sign up to be counted in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Census of Agriculture is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land - whether rural or urban - growing fruit, vegetables or some food animals count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the Census year. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future, and their opportunity. Learn more and sign up at the USDA Census of Agriculture.
KEY DATES
Sign Up To Be Counted March 2021 – June 2022
Data Collection Begins December 19, 2022
Surveys Due February
2023
Data Release February 22, 2024
San Diego County Food Vision 2030
The San Diego Food System Alliance released San Diego County Food Vision 2030 with the understanding that the time to reimagine our food system is now. Check out their data dashboard and full report.
Food Vision 2030 builds on and complements the efforts initiated by the State of the Food System Report for the San Diego Region.
Find Locally Grown Food with The Good Food Finder
The UCSD Center for Community Health has developed The Good Food Finder. This online resource provides information about supporting San Diego urban farmers, and farms owned or operated by BIPOC and women, via Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farm stands, and other local direct-to-consumer agriculture products.
Look for locally grown food near you! Learn more.
Garden Plots Available at Sweetwater Community Garden
Garden plots are available at the Sweetwater Community Garden in Bonita! Exercise your green thumb while growing your own healthy produce and connecting with the land and your community. Learn more with this flyer in English and Spanish.
Visit the Resource Conservation District's website to apply for a plot.
Low-Cost Compost Bins Available For Unincorporated Residents
Reduce your wasted food by adding a compost bin to your yard! The County of San Diego has partnered with Dixieline ProBuild in Rancho San Diego and Escondido to provide low‐cost compost bins to unincorporated County residents. Check with your jurisdiction of residence for similar programs.
Submit an application to receive a low-cost compost bin! Learn more.
Upcoming Events
The San Diego Food System Alliance facilitates five Working Groups that bring together individuals working across the food system. Learn more.
Do you have a food system event coming up? Let us know and we can post it here!
Watch Previous Events
The Economic Benefits of Dramatically Expanding Healthy Food Incentives
For over a decade, healthy food incentive programs have increased the purchasing power of low-income families to buy fruits and vegetables at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Learn about how the expansion of these programs can reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and support local agriculture and retail!
This event was co-sponsored by SPUR and Fair Food Network. Watch the webinar here or read the full report.
Healthy Food As Preventative Medicine: California and Beyond
Can healthy food be preventative medicine, prescribed and paid for by health care providers? At food pharmacies and similar organizations that have launched across the country, doctors are writing prescriptions — and providing vouchers — for healthy food in an effort to reduce hunger, improve health and decrease health care spending.
Hear from SPUR and the leaders pioneering this movement, watch the event here.
County News
Agriculture Blossoms Again in Annual Crop Report, Nears $1.8 Billion
Agriculture values blossomed for the third year out of the past
four and grew close to $1.8 billion, a height they last reached in
2014, in the County of San Diego’s annual Crop Report. Read the full
story here.
‘Great Plates’ to Continue Delivering Meals to Seniors
More than 1,400 older adults in the “Great Plates Delivered” program
will continue to receive three free and healthy meals a day until July
10, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today. Read
the full story here.
Composting: Nature’s Recycling
Food scraps and yard waste comprise 34 percent of waste in the unincorporated area landfills. Read the full story here.
“Great Plates Delivered” to Send Free Meals to Seniors
Qualified older adults in the region can now sign up to get three free and healthy meals a day delivered to their home for a limited time through the “Great Plates Delivered” program, the County HHSA announced today. Read the full story here.
Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones (UAIZ) Ordinance Adopted by County Board of Supervisors
California Assembly Bill No. 551 - Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones
Act. Learn
more.
County Releases Crop Report
Three of San Diego County’s Top 10 Crops reached their highest total values in the past decade in the annual Crop Report released by the County today. Read the full story here.
County Opens Trail and Community Garden at Sweetwater County Park
Hikers and urban farmers have reason to celebrate two new features at Sweetwater Summit Regional Park, after County Parks and Recreation opened a new trail and a community garden on Saturday. Read the full story here.
Talking Turkey: Food is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Too much of a good thing, they say, can be bad — but that can’t
possibly include Thanksgiving leftovers, can it? Read the full
story here.
Do This Thanksgiving Food Safety Quiz Before You Gobble
Turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, cranberry sauce, listeria, salmonella, E. coli — wait, what? Read the full story here.
Community News
City of San Diego Summer Lunch Program Offers Free Meals to Families in Need During COVID-19 Pandemic
City partners with San Diego Parks Foundation, Albertsons’ Nourishing Neighbors Program and Feeding San Diego... see the full City of San Diego press release.
Feeding San Diego ‘Find Food Map’ Offers Resources Amid Ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic
Easy-to-use map directs San Diegans to hundreds of food distribution sites throughout the county. All pertinent information is available on the find food map.
Urban Gardens Sprout in Point Loma During Quarantine
Urban gardening has become a trend that an increasing number of San Diego residents are pursuing, especially during the pandemic. And the City is helping out, having just debuted a new Urban Farming website.
San Diego Food Bank Launches 35 Countywide “Super Pantries” to Help Families Impacted by COVID-19
The San Diego Food Bank launched our new “Super Pantry Program” at a news conference with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas, Escondido Mayor Paul McNamara and Assemblymember Todd Gloria. Continue reading here.
Feed the Need concerts satisfy appetite for live music
Framed by Petco Park and views of the Coronado Bridge, music fans enjoyed the first live concert in California since the stay-at-home orders at last Sunday’s Feed the Need Drive-in Concerts. Continue reading here.
San Diego Food System Alliance Releases Issue Brief: COVID-19 and Our Food System
The San Diego Food System Alliance has put together an issue brief
summarizing immediate impacts of COVID-19 on our food system, with
priority recommendations for policymakers and funders. Read the issue
brief.
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