from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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JAFSCD is the world’s only community-supported journal. JAFSCD content is open access (free) thanks to the generous support of our shareholders: the JAFSCD Shareholder Consortium, Library Shareholders, a growing number of Individual Shareholders, and our six JAFSCD Partners: |
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JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Dara Bloom (NC State University), David Yates (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Gizem Templeton (Duke University, now with the Federation of American Scientists), Emma Brinkmeyer (NC State University), and Caroline Hundley (NC State University, now with Chick and Sprout)
Catered meals for rural child care settings have the potential to make a big impact, but a recent pilot project illustrates crucial lessons for future community-based interventions.
Child care centers play a key role in meeting young children’s nutritional needs. However, many child care facilities struggle to prepare healthy meals due to staffing shortages, limited kitchen capacity, and the burden of applying for federal meal reimbursements. Central kitchens that cater meals for child care centers hold promise as a model that can address these constraints, while also purchasing larger volumes of local food than individual facilities. However, most central kitchens operate in urban areas, leaving the question of whether they can be designed to support rural child care centers.
In a new JAFSCD article, Failure to launch: An analysis of an attempted central kitchen pilot program to serve childcare meals, authors Bloom, Yates, Templeton, Brinkmeyer, and Hundley take a unique approach by offering an analysis of a central kitchen in a rural area that was unable to get off the ground.
KEY FINDINGS
When collaborating with a funder, there can be an underlying power dynamic that can lead communities to agree to take on projects they might not have the capacity to execute. Community food system infrastructure projects need a shared leadership model and community buy-in, rather than relying on a single champion.
Central kitchens need to involve the county health department early in the planning process to avoid roadblocks related to renovations and regulations.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
We recommend a staged request for proposals from funders that can give communities time to build relationships, get county health departments on board, and follow a roadmap that is more likely to lead to success. SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
Could a central kitchen model improve kids' meals in child care? We tried it in a rural community, but faced some big challenges along the way. From community dynamics to health department regulations, here’s what we learned and how it can help future projects. Read the full @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.142.015
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Photos above: On the left, a typical child care meal (chicken nuggets, tater tots, custard); on the right, a healthy meal from a central kitchen (red beans and rice, local spinach and strawberries); photos by David Yates. |
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JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by William Schanbacher (U of South Florida), Dhalia Bumbaca (WellFed Community), Luciana Jones (U of South Florida), Ana Vidal (U of South Florida), Christiane Barros-Adwell (WellFed Community), Anthony Olivieri (FHEED, LLC), and Jennifer Kue (U of South Florida)
Community food sovereignty projects and initiatives are sprouting up in different parts of the U.S. and Global North. Communities know best about the challenges and opportunities in their local food systems. As food insecurity, diet-related sicknesses, and environmental change continue to affect rural and urban communities, people are exploring new ways to participate and build their own food systems.
In a new JAFSCD article, Setting tables for community food sovereignty: Building a food sovereignty toolkit, authors William Schanbacher, Dhalia Bumbaca, Luciana Jones, Ana Vidal, Christiane Barros-Adwell, Anthony Olivieri, and Jennifer Kue present reflections on a two-year, community-engaged project on building a local food sovereignty initiative and the food sovereignty toolkit that was developed out of this effort. Corresponding author William Schanbacher can be contacted at william48@usf.edu.
KEY FINDINGS We found a general unfamiliarity with the term and concept of food sovereignty among urban residents. Community meals combined with storytelling, food sovereignty pictures, and a bilingual video generate greater awareness of food sovereignty. Employing large paper maps in a workshop setting facilitates collective, cross-sectional strategies to activate built environment assets for community food sovereignty. We produced an open-access community food sovereignty toolkit.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH Define the issues and priorities related to food sovereignty with community members.
Involve and incorporate the needs and feedback of community members in designing and conducting research to ensure that solutions are appropriate and relevant. Practice ongoing reflection sessions with community partners and members to revisit goals and ensure mutual benefit.
When possible to arrange, outdoor venues in community gardens help generate conversations about food sources and can be used for visual cues to spark conversation. Cater to multiple learning styles when discussing food sovereignty concepts, including activities that integrate food and the five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. Include child-friendly activities in qualitative research events. Our asset-mapping workshops did not include a mapping of existing food policies; this would be helpful information to include in community discussions.
SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
A two-year, community-engaged project on building a local food sovereignty initiative resulted in a food sovereignty toolkit. Read the entire @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.142.019 |
Photo above: Participants at an asset-mapping workshop at the Dream Center of Tampa, Florida; photo provided by the authors. |
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| Are you interested in becoming a trained food systems facilitator? Or are you looking for an affordable & practical professional development opportunity for your staff that will have lasting impact?
Attend NAFSN's free information session on ACRE. |
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AgriCluster Resilience and Expansion — or ACRE for short — is a professionally facilitated strategic planning process to help groups of farmers, especially those in value chains, work together and compete more effectively.
The ACRE Facilitator Training program provides instruction designed for food and agriculture systems professionals to facilitate and guide the ACRE Process with farmers and other community stakeholders in the values-based development of more resilient food value chains. In the ACRE Information Session, you'll learn about the training course and the communities of practice employing ACRE in their food and ag communities. | |
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SEEKING NEW JAFSCD PARTNERS
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JAFSCD would appreciate your assistance in finding one or more new JAFSCD Partners to support its transformative work — emphasizing accessibility, equity, and engagement, and progressive editorial policies such as triple-rigor* and positionality or reflexivity statements. Other JAFSCD efforts include our Food Policy and Practice Briefs program, Voices of the Grassroots essays, author mentorship programs, and the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Editorial Circle and its new quarterly column.
Additional JAFSCD Partners would join our current prominent partners:
- Food Systems Research Center at The University of Vermont
- Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Institute for Sustainable Food Systems
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The Inter-institutional Network for Food, Agriculture and Sustainability (INFAS)
- Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) & the University of North Carolina Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (in a joint partnership)
Please contact Duncan Hilchey if you are engaged with an organization that might be interested in becoming an ongoing JAFSCD Partner. He can provide additional information to share with colleagues or you can share this info sheet.
* Credit for the triple-rigor concept goes to the late Christine Porter of the University of Wyoming; see her 10-minute presentation here.
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