Our StoryThe California Food Literacy Center came to life in July 2011 at a nonfiction food book store in San Francisco. Smitten with the idea of telling the story of our food, and being part of a community that could sustain a store selling nothing but food literacy, the dream was sparked. As a food writer, founder Amber Stott spent years researching and writing about the need for increased education of our food system. With a lifelong career in nonprofit management, she decided to merge her personal passion with her professional skills to fill the need.
Weeks later, the mission was born to create change today for a healthy, sustainable tomorrow through community food education. Today, Amber is joined by community members who make up the center’s board, volunteer committees, and support system. As a growing team, they’ve combined their creative ideas and energy surrounding eating, growing, learning, and reading to change the community.Our mission:
To inspire change today for a healthy, sustainable tomorrow through enduring community food education.
Our Vision:
To promote a food literate population in California. We help Californians understand the story of their food. (See our definition of “food literacy” below.)
Food Literacy [fu: d lit-er-uh-see]noun: Understanding the impact of your food choices on your health, the environment, and our community.Why Food Literacy Matters:Did you know that only 14% of Americans eat five servings of fruit and veggies daily? In California, 38% of children are overweight—a rate three times higher than it was 30 years ago, when the obesity epidemic began. Researchers believe we are two generations away from the majority of our country knowing how to cook. Meanwhile, the entire global food chain may account for a third of what’s heating our planet. Our current food system is taking a toll on our health, the environment, our kids, and our communities.
People are hungry for knowledge and for change: the recently introduced Edible Education 101 course at UC Berkeley offered public tickets in addition to student enrollment. They sold out in 12 minutes!
Who We Serve:Teaching children is our primary objective. By educating them in schools, we help them develop healthy food habits while they are young. Parents are our secondary audience. Our curriculum inspires kids to bring home what they’ve learned to influence the food choices their families make.
What We Do:We teach. Financial literacy, learning to read recipes, basic cooking skills, gardening, and environmental impacts (bees, water)—these are just some of the lessons in our life-changing curriculum, which is tied to California Education Standards to ensure maximum benefits to the schools we visit.
We feed. By introducing healthy, sustainable menus in public entertainment venues, like zoos and theme parks, we demonstrate to families that good food is fun!
Our Approach:
We believe that good food should be fun! We focus on the positive side of food, sharing practical, affordable, and approachable ways to eat well, rather than harping on what foods people should avoid or eliminate. We aim to engage rather than frighten.
We believe that good food should be fun! We focus on the positive side of food, sharing practical, affordable, and approachable ways to eat well, rather than harping on what foods people should avoid or eliminate. We aim to engage rather than frighten.
Results:We don’t rely on anecdotes to know that our programs are working. We test and measure our programs, using evaluation data to improve as we discover best practices to create lasting change.
How YOU Can Help:Be part of the solution. Contact us to learn about scholarships that bring our curriculum into schools, sponsorship opportunities, and to volunteer: Amber Stott, Founder:amber@californiafoodliteracy.org.
