Oakland Food System Assessment

In June 2005, Mayor Jerry Brown’s Office of Sustainability initiated this study in order to begin a process of evaluating each element of the food system in Oakland, and to provide key baseline information on the various activities that represent it. On January 10, 2006, the Oakland City Council, Life Enrichment Committee unanimously passed a resolution that:

…authorizes the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to develop an Oakland Food Policy and Plan for thirty percent local area food production, by undertaking an initial food system assessment study, conducted by a research team from the Department of City and Regional Planning, University of California at Berkeley, at no cost to the City.

This baseline analysis is therefore intended to initiate discussion among City policymakers, staff, and community members to consider the impact that the City’s food system might have on different areas of public concern. It also begins to assess the potential for increasing the consumption of local foods among Oakland residents. This includes exploring how systems of production, distribution, processing, consumption, and waste, as well as city planning and policymaking could support the objective of having at least 30 percent of the City's food needs sourced from within the City and immediate region.

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