About - Interfaith Food

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative works to:

Reconnect religious people to a sustainable food system through their faith community
Expand the base of the sustainable agricultural movement in order to improve public policy

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative advances this vision by:

Connecting congregations with local farmers and gardeners to increase access to organic food and strengthen local economies.
Sharing models, strategies and resources across faith traditions to help leaders bring programs and best practices to their congregations, camps and retreat centers.
Providing one stop shopping for speakers, educational materials, and advocacy resources to help congregations engage to improve their understanding of and impact on the food system.
Empowering leaders to develop congregational food policies facilitating a connection between the sacred creation and what congregants consume when they come together to pray or celebrate.

To learn more about how the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative connects food, faith, and sustainability, click here to listen to our KRCB radio interview.

The Challenge

The sustainable agriculture movement and local food advocates have had many successes over the decades and awareness has grown about how consumers can advance a sustainable food system. However, in many ways the work to facilitate a shift to a more sustainable food system has just begun. This project is designed in part to impact individuals’ consumption habits not through their pocket books, but from the perspective of religious values.

In recent years, several initiatives among religious denominations at the national level have highlighted the connection between the food system and spirituality. Projects, campaigns and programmatic resources have been developed by the national bodies of the United Methodist Church, and the Union of Reform Judaism for example. Many creative programs have blossomed from these efforts. However, the diverse application of congregational-level projects has not been catalogued and shared in a way that facilitates development of new projects across the faith spectrum. The ISFC fills the gap by facilitating sharing of innovative models.

Many low-income individuals in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma counties do not have adequate access to affordable food. Farmers need more outlets to sell food and infrastructure to be able to accept payments from individuals using government assistance programs. Families without land or garden space need places to grow their own food. Congregations need resources to be able to advance programs that support these objectives.

We are thankful to the following major supporters for their contributions: