In July 2023, San Diego Foundation announced 43 grantees for the Community Food Grant Program totaling $5.5 million in awards supporting community food security and food sovereignty for low-income communities and communities with limited access. Over the grant period, SDF will highlight the impact of these projects aligned with the San Diego County Food Vision 2030.
San Diego County Food Vision 2030 is a plan and movement for transforming our region’s food system over the next 10 years. With three goals, 10 objectives, and several strategies to inform planning, policy, program, and investment opportunities, the vision aims to guide collective action toward a healthy, sustainable and just food system over the next decade.
Creating a Shared Vision
San Diego County Food Vision 2030 is an initiative of the San Diego Food System Alliance, a network of leaders — farmers, fishermen, food business owners, workers, organizers, policymakers, funders, and residents — committed to building a food system that works for everyone.
While spotlighting local voices on the ground, the report outlines the steps needed over the next decade to create a more healthy, sustainable and just food system in San Diego County — one that will uplift food workers, allow more equitable access to nutritious food and more readily withstand future catastrophic events like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Launched in July 2021, the vision marks a significant step forward in addressing the complex challenges faced by the region’s food system. Developed over two years, the vision is deeply rooted in research and the needs and aspirations expressed by the local community. The process included a comprehensive literature review, in-depth analyses, hundreds of interviews, several focus groups and broad community engagement reaching over 3,000 individuals, primarily communities of color and workers across the food system.
It is important to note that the vision was not created in isolation but through deep collaboration. Strong partnerships with a diverse array of community stakeholders such as food producers, farmers, local government, community organizations, and individuals who are passionate about food have been the guiding force for this plan and movement. Together, these leaders bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table, ensuring that the vision reflects collective wisdom and the community’s shared desires for their food system.
The goal was to build a shared vision — one that centers voices of communities closest to the issues, as well as stakeholders across the food system.
The San Diego County Food Vision 2030 centers the most pressing issues within the local food system — justice, climate change and resilience — as the foundation of a common agenda. The vision’s goals include Cultivating Justice, Fighting Climate Change, and Building Resilience, with each goal linked, as one cannot be achieved without achieving the others. All three goals must be achieved to realize a food system that honors our communities’ ancestors and is capable of nourishing San Diegans today and for generations to come.
Aligning Objectives and Goals
In addition to the three goals, 10 objectives underpin San Diego County Food Vision 2030 and help overcome challenges in our region. These 10 actions — for example, increasing the viability of local farms, fisheries and food businesses; elevating wages and working conditions; and preserving San Diego County’s agricultural land and soils — require extensive cooperation among community organizers, nonprofits, governments, business and philanthropic organizations.
San Diego County Food Vision 2030 objectives:
- Preserve Agricultural Land and Soils, and Invest in Long-term Food Production
- Increase the Viability of Local Farms, Fisheries, and Food Businesses
- Scale Up Local, Sustainable, and Equitable Food Value Chains
- Elevate Wages and Working Conditions, and Improve Career Pathways
- Expand Integrated Nutrition and Food Security
- Improve Community Food Environments
- Scale Up Food Waste Prevention, Recovery, and Recycling Initiatives
- Increase Leadership by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Across the Food System
- Build a Local, Sustainable, and Equitable Food Movement
- Plan for a Resilient Food System
The San Diego County Food Vision 2030 is more than a shared vision for the local food system. It is also seeding a movement. A movement that seeks to heal, honor and celebrate – and a movement that will ultimately shift power.
Fortunately, there is already a growing movement of farmers, workers, scientists, community activists, business owners and eaters working to make this vision a reality in the region.
With a common vision, rooted in community, leaders are linking arms and beginning the work together to undo centuries of inequality and truly build a food system that belongs to all San Diegans.
San Diego County Food Vision 2030 is a plan and movement developed by San Diego Food System Alliance (SDFSA) focused on transforming San Diego county’s food system by the end of the decade.
Launched two years into the vision’s 10-year plan, the San Diego Foundation Community Food Grant Program (CFGP) champions many of the same ideals. One of the goals of the program is to improve community food environments, as described in the vision, to increase access to healthy food and encourage local food production across low-income communities and communities of color.
About the Community Food Grant Program
Funding for the Community Food Grant Program was made possible through a partnership with County of San Diego. In 2021, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the framework for the use of American Rescue Plan Act funding, including the framework for the program.
The Community Food Grant Program contributes to building resilient communities, a pillar of the SDF Strategic Plan, by addressing equity barriers and creating a more inclusive and accessible food system for all. Learn more about the Community Food Grant Program partners.
