Food
Nourish ourselves; nurture the world.
Guide to the Page
If the global food supply chain were suddenly compromised, would Southern California be able to access a reliable, safe, and abundant food supply? How much food do the seven Southern California counties produce? What can each Southern California county do to increase food security and access while building resilience for the whole region?
- Southern California Farmland Dashboard
- Risks to Long-Term Food Production
- Mapping our Foodscape
- Agriculture and Working Lands Data Layers
- 30% Local Food Production?
- Preserving Farmland in SoCal
- American Farmland Trust Future of Farmland App
- What is a Food System? Story Maps
- Agrivoltaics: Working at the Water Food Energy Nexus
- Growing Resilience Films
SoCal Food Systems
A First-of-its-Kind Dashboard for Understanding Southern California's Food and Farms
Once upon a time, Southern California was a major agricultural producer. In fact, Los Angeles County used to be the top agricultural county by sales in the country. Today, Southern Californians, like most people, are dependent on food supplies from around the world. Most agricultural production in Southern California takes place in the isolated stretch of Imperial County from the Salton Sea to the Mexican border, southwestern Ventura County, and pockets throughout Riverside and San Diego counties.
Despite the changes that have taken place in the region, Southern California’s food system still produces a lot of food and is a major component of the regional economy. Explore Southern California's food system in the interactive Dashboards below:
Mapping our Foodscape
Understanding Southern California's Food System
Compared to SoCal's agrarian past, we have comparatively little farmland left. It's been swallowed up by housing and warehousing, compromised by invasive species, and its future is questioned by water issues. Where and how should we prioritize preserving our farmland so that we can build a self-reliant, resilient food system?
What is a Food System?
A “food system” refers to all the people, resources, and processes—food production, processing, packaging, distributing, selling, preparing, and disposing—that move food from farm and ocean to our plates. There are very few examples of long-term planning for healthy, reliable, equitable food systems.
Two story maps feature food and agricultural projects in LA County and the Inland Empire.
California Ag Land Conservation
The potential for innovative, regenerative uses of farmland is just one reason to conserve farmland. Read the StoryMap below about model land conservation programs in California.
Growing resilience.
What will it take to grow, raise, produce, harvest, and catch more regional food and move our food system away from global supply chains and into our homes and other places where we eat? Unlike other systems that provide essential goods and services, like energy and water, no one is currently in charge of planning and preparing for healthy, reliable, and resilient long-term food supplies.
See below for films from Intercollegiate Media Studies and the Redford Conservancy about scrappy, innovative, and visionary people and projects attempting to make a difference.
JUST PLANT IT from Intercollegiate Media Studies on Vimeo.
THE HOME PLACE from Intercollegiate Media Studies on Vimeo.
Pomona Grown: We can feed ourselves from Intercollegiate Media Studies on Vimeo.
The Crescent – Water is our Crop from Intercollegiate Media Studies on Vimeo.