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Food Security Information Ecosystem

Problem

 

Despite food insecurity being rampant in many parts of Santa Clara County (SCC), publicly available information on local food insecurity tends to be secondhand, infrequently collected, or too anecdotal or general. In the short term, this lack of detailed, timely information limits food-related service providers' ability to quickly adapt their programs to community needs. In the long term, it limits the ability to evaluate collective success in addressing food insecurity or to devise timely policies.

Solution

 

To address this issue, Valley Verde proposes developing a Food Security Information Ecosystem that would consist of local nonprofits, universities, and government agencies. The Ecosystem members would collaborate on data collection, processing, and public dissemination of critical food-insecurity-related data, such as who (with respect to demographics) is food insecure, where, and how the determinants and consequences of food insecurity are changing within an actionable timeframe.

Community Needs Assessment

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One of the Food Security Information Ecosystem's products would be an annual community needs assessment. Toward this end, Valley Verde is piloting a large-scale community needs assessment to gather timely, nuanced, and diverse perspectives from SCC residents on unmet food-related needs and access to food-related services. The assessment is robust, relies on surveys and interviews, and has rigorous data collection, analysis, and dissemination methodologies informed by a year of surveying and interviewing at Sacred Heart Community Service’s San Jose location.

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​We plan to share the results of the community needs assessment widely with interested community members and academic, nonprofit, and government organizations, and to apply them in identifying new and strengthening existing collaborative efforts to comprehensively address the county's short- and long-term food-related needs.​

Ecosystem of Food-Related Service Providers

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Thus far, Valley Verde has mapped out an ecosystem of 200+ possible nonprofit and government agencies in SCC, providing:

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  • Direct and emergency food relief,

  • Subsidized shopping and purchasing,

  • Affordable food alternatives, and

  • Supporting services

 

Valley Verde has also directly engaged the following organizations:

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  • SCC's Department of Public Health and Office of Sustainability and Resilience as strategic thought partners;

  • Stanford University as a research design partner; and

  • Hunger at Home, Martha’s Kitchen, and Sacred Heart Community Service as locations for surveying and interviewing.

Community-Based Science

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Valley Verde would like the Food Security Information Ecosystem and the process of developing it and its instruments to be as community-science-based as possible, and is looking to engage volunteers in the following activities:

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  1. Conducting surveys and interviews, or providing support by translating, distributing flyers, etc.

  2. Promoting the initiative through social media

  3. Advocating the initiative with decisionmakers

​Are you a Santa Clara County resident? Please contact us to get involved, schedule an interview, participate in a focus group, or complete a survey. 

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