Chanowk Yisrael: Transforming Neighborhood Yards into Edible Landscapes and Building Collective Power Along the Way

Chanowk Yisrael: Transforming Neighborhood Yards into Edible Landscapes and Building Collective Power Along the Way

Episode 6 Yisreal Family Urban Farm [https://www.yisraelfamilyfarm.net/] founder, Chanowk Yisreal is a visionary leader determined to empower his Sacramentan neighbors by digging up front and backyards and transforming them into beautiful edible landscapes. Listen as Chanowk explores what it means to grow your own food, know your neighbors, build skills, and feed it forward as a way to build individual power. He also speaks to how engaged neighbors can come together and collectively help a neighborhood rise in the face of structural and systemic inequities.

Amber Stott: Creating Systemic Change through a School Garden, Salad Bar, and a Whole lot of Collaboration

Episode 5 Food Literacy Center [https://www.foodliteracycenter.org/]founder, Amber Stott offers a lively discussion about the impact of organizations collaborating together at an elementary school in Sacramento to improve the health outcomes of students. Listen as she talks about the layers of programming and advocacy that community organizations can do to transform school policy and create positive systemic change for decades to come.

Davida Douglas: From Candy to Cucumbers: Helping Corner Stores Offer Healthier Options

Episode 4 Alchemist Community Development Corporation [http://alchemistcdc.org/] connects people to land, food, and opportunity and tried an innovative approach to increasing access to healthy food for people living in food deserts. Listen as long-time employee and Operations Director, Davida Douglas, shares their roller-coaster journey of working with corner store owners to become spaces where neighborhood residents in Sacramento could purchase fresh fruit and vegetables and healthier snack options.

Karen Strach: Re-imagining a County-Wide Food Bank and Pantry System Without the Stigma

Episode 3 Karen Strach of Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services [https://www.sacramentofoodbank.org/] provides an in-depth look at re-imagining traditional food bank and pantry services offered to residents in south Sacramento. Listen as she speaks about lessening the stigma attached to accessing free food, a successful fruit-tree gleaning project, and what it took to build a county-wide collaborative food bank and pantry system that provides hundreds of thousands of food to residents and families.

Joany Titherington: Building a Farmers’ Market that Transformed a Community

Episode 2 Oak Park Farmers Market [http://www.nwsac.org/oak-park-farmers-market/] Manager, Joany Titherington of NeighborWorks Sacramento [https://www.nwsac.org/] discusses the tumultuous journey of starting a farmers’ market despite naysayers and obstacles in a Sacramento neighborhood that has been historically deprived of resources and battles on-going gentrification. Listen to her story of collaboration, advocating for healthy and locally-grown food, and what it took to build one of the best, most vibrant farmers’ markets that brought people together across a diverse array of communities.