Nurturing collaboration among Hayward food
providers, educational partners, and food recovery
organizations
Hayward Food Action Plan
October 2023
DRAFT
Attachment II
4Cs
Agricultural Institute of Marin
Alameda County Community Food Bank
Cal State East Bay
Centro Community Partners
Chabot College
Daily Bowl
Deputy Sheriffs' Activities League, Dig Deep Farms
Downtown Streets Team
Eden Area Regional Occupational Program
Eden United Church of Christ
Eden Youth and Family Center
First Presbyterian Church of Hayward/South Hayward Parish ForestR.org
Hayward Community Gardeners
Hayward Environmental Services staff
Hayward Promise Neighborhoods (HPN)
Hayward Unified School District/Tennyson High School/Cherryland Elementary Humanity for 100K Trees
Life Elder Care
Meals on Wheels
Mercy Brown Bag
SOS Meals On Wheels
Spectrum
StopWaste
Teach Earth Action
Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center
UC Cooperative Extension and Nutrition staff
This could not be possible without your
participation!
Thank you to our partners
Hayward Food Action Plan October 2023
Summary of Assets
Summary of Gaps
Recommended Priorities and Next Steps
Table of Contents
About the Food Action Plan02
03 08
07 10
Process Highlights
City of Hayward
Food Action Plan
Community-based organizations & staff conversations
Community-based organization interviews
19 work sessions across three different working groups on the topics: Food Access and Security, Food Recovery, and Career Pathways & Entrepreneurship
Organized talks with United Food and Commercial Workers Labor Union and Homeless Garden Project Tours to Dig Deep Farm's Food Hub in San Leandro and Alicia's Tamales Los Mayas A Food Action Plan Partners Retreat to Homeless Garden Project & UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology (hosted on March 22, 2023)
Street vendor interviews performed by Chabot interns
Surveying and analysis for Hayward Promise Neighborhoods and South Hayward Parish on preferred foods and line management performed by CSUEB interns
A food distribution resource map for the public completed by CSUEB Interns The Learn & Earn Pilot Program in partnership with HUSD, EAROP, Forestr.org, and Mills College South Hayward Farmer’s Market Interest survey outreach and analysis in partnership with Eden Youth and Family Services; dot surveying and community engagement completed at the Downtown Hayward Farmer’s Market
About the Hayward Food Action Plan
From August 2022 through October 2023, the City of Hayward, City Manager’s Office met with over 30 community organizations, educational partners, and service providers to convene and develop a community-informed Food Action Plan for Hayward and its surrounding communities.
During this planning process, the City engaged partners to articulate top assets and gaps, identified opportunities for partnership, collected local data to support the work of our partners, and developed recommended priorities.
The process from August 2023 through October 2023 included:
Hayward Food Action Plan October 2023
Food Action Plan Partner Retreat to UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology in March 2023 2 Strengthening relationships among partners
During the planning process, one of the main goals of Food Action Plan was to convene and strengthen relationships among community partners. For 10 months, the City hosted work group sessions across three different topics: Career and Entrepreneurship, Food Access & Security, and Food Recovery. With over 30 organizations involved, these work group and resource meetings brought organizations together to learn about each other’s work.
On March 22, 2023, the City hosted a retreat with Food Action Partners to Santa Cruz where partners took tours of the Homeless Garden Project and UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology. At the Homeless Garden Project, partners learned about their model which engages unhoused community members in growing food for the community and connects them to long-term employment opportunities and case management resources. Afterwards, partners toured US Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology to learn about their educational model to teach students and the community about agroecological systems.
Food Action Plan Highlights
Hayward Food Action Plan
Click the box to watch this 3 minute video!
Food Action Plan Retreat Highlight Video
What is Agroecology?
Agroecology is the application of
ecological principles to agricultural
systems and practices. New farming
methods, like agroecology, practice
farming that works with nature and
reduces climate change
Food Action Plan Partner Tour to the Homeless Garden Project 3 Interviews of street vendors
Food Action Plan Highlights
Hayward Food Action Plan
Collecting local data to better
address local problems
Coordinating hours of distribution
Improving access to culturally relevant
foods
Improving language access to assistance
At the beginning of the planning process, the
Food Access & Security working group was
polled to identify their priority areas on
action items we could work towards. The top
three topics to address were:
1. 2.
3. Engaging educational partners to collect local data
The City partnered with Chabot College and California State University - East Bay and hosted 18 Food Action Plan college interns to work with partners and gather data on the top three topics identified by partners as well as other topics. Deliverables from these partnerships include: a map of Hayward and nearby food distribution sites for the public, surveys and analysis of clients at two different food distributions to learn about food preferences and dietary restrictions, and interviews of street vendors. Data was shared among partners for collective learning.
Public map of food distributionsides in and around Hayward Survey and analysis of food preferences
at South Hayward Parish and Hayward
Promise Neighborhoods
4 Map of Downtown Hayward
Farmer’s Market Attendees’
Location of Residence
South Hayward Farmer’s Market Interest
Survey with Eden Youth & Family Center
and Promotoras
The City collaborated with the Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM) and Eden Youth and Family Center’s
Outreach and Promotoras Team to collect
information for a South Hayward Farmer’s Market
Interest Survey. The survey was distributed by the
City of Hayward’s Community and Media Relations
Team and heavily distributed by Eden Youth and
Family Center’s Promotoras Team focusing on South
Hayward community members.
The survey was translated into English, Spanish,
Tagalog, and Chinese and gathered nearly 1400
responses with overwhelming support. City staff will
continue to work with AIM to bring a farmer’s market
to South Hayward and can present findings to
Council if desired.
City staff also completed
dot surveying at the
Downtown Hayward
Farmer’s Market at the
request of AIM to determine
if Downtown Hayward market
attendees were coming
from South Hayward. The map
to the right shows a high
concentration in North
Hayward and Castro Valley.
With a few market
goers near the South
Hayward area.
Food Action Plan Highlights
Hayward Food Action Plan
5 Forging meaningful opportunities for Hayward youth
The City and Hayward Unified School District co-created a paid internship pilot program for 8 HUSD student in the summer of 2023. Interns worked with Eden Area Regional Occupational Programs, Forestr.org, Mills College to get hands on experience as well as professional development skills. They worked on Tennyson High School’s farm, cultivated and tended to EAROP’s garden, worked on Mill’s College’s farm, and developed a gleaning network and webpage for Hayward with Forestr.org. Youth broadened their knowledge on what it means to take part in their food system, and developed life skills in communication, team building, and work ethic.
For this work, the City was presented the EAROP’s Business Partner of the Year Award and will continue to sponsor another year of this pilot program through the grant planning funds of the Food Action Plan.
Food Action PlanHighlights
Hayward Food Action Plan
This remarkable opportunity for
students – to learn skills supporting
sustainability, food security, and
climate awareness, while earning a
stipend – was the result of a rich
collaboration between the City of
Hayward, Hayward Unified School
District, and the Eden Area Regional
Occupational Program. This, in turn,
was the result of a year-long effort to
build and braid systems that will
enhance food security for all
Hayward residents.
-Blaine C. Torpey, Superintendent of EAROP
6 Summary of Assets
Hayward Food Action Plan
Hayward is rich in knowledge, passion, and
dedication
Hayward is a diverse community with 39 percent Hispanic or Latino, 29 percent Asian, 16 percent White, and 11 percent two or more races. Its population has a wealth of generational knowledge of agricultural practices, health, and nutrition from different cultural backgrounds. The opportunity to link Hayward’s youth to this knowledge not only benefits their personal development, but also teaches them to be proud of their backgrounds and deepens their cultural roots. This was most apparent during the pilot internship program coordinated with Hayward Unified School District, Eden Area Regional
Occupational Programs, and Forest.org.
Tennyson Farm, Eden Area ROP’s Garden, and Forestr.org are just a few examples of grassroots projects that nurture community connection through food in and around Hayward.
Other examples include the Hayward Community Garden, Hazel Garden, Lydia’s Farm, Brown Girl Farms, Dig Deep Farm and Food Hub. It’s only natural these activities are occurring in Hayward given that the area was a predominantly agricultural area until the 1960s. The transition from being a predominantly agricultural community to suburban community left behind fertile, low pest land. As a result, Hayward has an abundant inventory of formerly agricultural land, much of it owned by the City and HUSD.
Community members with
agricultural backgrounds and
knowledge
Hayward is home to fertile land and
low pest populations
Hayward CBOs have developed
their own local networks to
increase food recovery
Hayward has a large food industry
sector
The Hayward area is home to a
handful of community-based
projects that nuture food systems
work
The Bay Area has a large pool of
regional professionals in food
systems work
There is willingness to collaborate
across sectors
Identified Assets
7 Hayward food recovery organizations leading the effort CBOs in Hayward have developed their own networks among each other. Organizations like Daily Bowl, a food recovery organization and consultant on SB1383, act as “connectors” and coordinate transporting recovered food across the Bay Area with food resource partners like South Hayward Parish. Another example of a connector organization is Forestr.org which focuses on gleaning, the practice of collecting excess harvest, from both private and public land fruit trees and redistributes the produce to food resource partners across Castro Valley, Contra Costa, and Hayward. Nine food recovery organizations (FROs) in Hayward including South Hayward Parish and Hope 4 the Heart put Hayward on the map for its food recovery efforts. In 2022, Hayward FROs ranked 2nd in the County in total pounds recovered out of 17 jurisdictions reporting 2,041,065 pounds of recovered food.
Partners expressed a need for more
centralized coordination around
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Warehouse locations with
refrigeration for food distribution is
extremely limited
Barriers to access land for growing
Educational programming like
Project Eats ceased operations and
there is little to no support to
continue the work
Inconsistent citywide access to
affordable food and food
distribution. Service providers have
experienced increase in demand
for food, but lack the capacity to
expand services to address the
demand.
Nonprofits addressing food and
poverty are concentrated among a
few, compared to neighboring
cities with more condensed
nonprofit capacities
Service providers struggle to keep
up with rapid shifts in client
demographics (translation services,
outreach materials, offering
culturally appropriate food)
Small food entreprenuers
expressed a lack of programs to
support them with business growth
Lack of centralized coordination of
resource sharing across
organizations.
Summary of Gaps
Hayward Food Action Plan
Identified Gaps Increased demand for recovered foods may impact Hayward commercial businesses
Senate Bill 1383 (SB1383) aims to keep food and other
compostable materials out of landfills to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. In Alameda County, the law is implemented and enforced under the Organics Reduction and Recycling Ordinance (ORRO), adopted by Council on November 16, 2021. In addition, SB1383 requires Tier 1 (supermarkets, grocery stores, wholesale food vendors) and Tier 2 (restaurants facilities, hotels, large venues) commercial edible food generators to recover the maximum amount of their edible food that would otherwise be disposed. StopWaste and partners provided insight on how Tier 2 organizations are facing challenges complying with SB1383 requirements and that
regional infrastructure is needed.
Tier 1 enforcement began in January 2022, with many Tier 1 generators in compliance due to already existing infrastructure.
Enforcement for Tier 2 generators will begin January 2024.
Many Tier 2 generators like local larger scale restaurants and hotels do not have existing infrastructure in place or may not be aware of these new state requirements, which could result in continued food waste and fines up to $500. StopWaste hosts resource groups and offers technical support around SB1383 response. However, the issue requires a more localized solution in an equitable, Hayward-centric manner.
8 Summary of Gaps
Hayward Food Action Plan
Partners expressed a need for more
centralized coordination around
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Warehouse locations with
refrigeration for food distribution is
extremely limited
Barriers to access land for growing
Educational programming like
Project Eats ceased operations and
there is little to no support to
continue the work
Inconsistent citywide access to
affordable food and food
distribution. Service providers have
experienced increase in demand
for food, but lack the capacity to
expand services to address the
demand.
Nonprofits addressing food and
poverty are concentrated among a
few, compared to neighboring
cities with more condensed
nonprofit capacities
Service providers struggle to keep
up with rapid shifts in client
demographics (translation services,
outreach materials, offering
culturally appropriate food)
Small food entreprenuers
expressed a lack of programs to
support them with business growth
Lack of centralized coordination of
resource sharing across
organizations.
Identified Gaps Increased demand for recovered foods may impact Hayward commercial businesses
In addition to the City’s efforts, partners that are crucial to this work include Dig Deep Farms and Daily Bowl. The County’s partnership with Dig Deep Farms has demonstrated a
coordinated effort to move towards a circular economy that includes food recovery, farming, and second chance
employment opportunities. Dig Deep Farms is currently housed in the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs Activities League (DSAL), championed by late Supervisor Wilma Chan. However, partners have expressed concerns with this work being in the Sheriff’s Office due to lack of community trust. Furthermore, DSAL staff have communicated they are seeking a new community partner to take on the administration and operation of Dig Deep Farms and Tri-CED Community Recycling has expressed interest in fulfilling that role. City staff is currently considering a proposal and funding request from Tri-CED which would incorporate Daily Bowls and other food recovery organizations.
Limited local warehouses with refrigeration
presents barriers to food distribution
In this past year, two organizations have reached out to the City asking for help to find warehouse locations with and without refrigeration including the San Leandro Family Help Center, which the City helped identify a temporary location at the old Skywest golf course clubhouse. The City’s Community Services and Economic Development Divisions have worked together to identify warehouse locations; however, warehouses with
refrigeration in the area is extremely limited. As the City builds upon their emergency preparedness plan, addressing solutions to the limited warehouse spaces with refrigeration will be essential. Industry partners and the Hayward Area Recreation District will be key to finding solutions to this gap.
9 Summary of Gaps
Hayward Food Action Plan
Partners expressed a need for more
centralized coordination around
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Warehouse locations with
refrigeration for food distribution is
extremely limited
Barriers to access land for growing
Educational programming like
Project Eats ceased operations and
there is little to no support to
continue the work
Inconsistent citywide access to
affordable food and food
distribution. Service providers have
experienced increase in demand
for food, but lack the capacity to
expand services to address the
demand.
Nonprofits addressing food and
poverty are concentrated among a
few, compared to neighboring
cities with more condensed
nonprofit capacities
Service providers struggle to keep
up with rapid shifts in client
demographics (translation services,
outreach materials, offering
culturally appropriate food)
Small food entreprenuers
expressed a lack of programs to
support them with business growth
Lack of centralized coordination of
local resource sharing across
organizations.
Identified Gaps Food providers struggle to keep up with changing client demographics
Prior to the pandemic, the service population for Eden United Church of Christ’s food distribution was 88 percent Latino or Hispanic. It is now 47 percent Asian or Pacific Islander and 43 percent Latino or Hispanic. This demographic shift was echoed by other service providers presenting obstacles to access additional resources for these new populations including offering translation services, updating outreach and operations materials, and procuring food that is culturally relevant. Not only are organizations sensitive to providing food that is appropriate to specific cultures, but they also aim to meet the dietary needs of the clients. In a survey performed by CSUEB interns at South Hayward Parish, 47.1% of survey participants (N=74) stated they are diabetic or had little to no tolerance to sugar. ACCFB is engaged in conversations around food procurement needs in Hayward and are consistently working towards meeting the food preferences and dietary needs of clients.
Disconnected stream of local resources
One of the gaps brought up by partners was that there is no centralized stream of communication for the community to access localized information on resources for where they can find food or where they can grow food. Individual organizations do their own targeted outreach for their specific programming, groups like the South Hayward Neighborhood Collective meet monthly to share information with one another, and the school district has Family Engagement Specialists that coordinate community newsletters. Additionally, the City’s Library Department hosts a Community Resource Guide and shares
information onsite, and the County has their 211 site which provides general information on services. However, partners expressed the need for a dedicated central landing page specific to the Hayward area that brings together these different networks and resources to be easily accessible to the whole community.
10 Summary of Gaps
Hayward Food Action Plan
Partners expressed a need for more
centralized coordination around
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Warehouse locations with
refrigeration for food distribution is
extremely limited
Barriers to access land for growing
Educational programming like
Project Eats ceased operations and
there is little to no support to
continue the work
Inconsistent citywide access to
affordable food and food
distribution. Service providers have
experienced increase in demand
for food, but lack the capacity to
expand services to address the
demand.
Nonprofits addressing food and
poverty are concentrated among a
few, compared to neighboring
cities with more condensed
nonprofit capacities
Service providers struggle to keep
up with rapid shifts in client
demographics (translation services,
outreach materials, offering
culturally appropriate food)
Small food entreprenuers
expressed a lack of programs to
support them with business growth
Lack of centralized coordination of
local resource sharing across
organizations.
Identified Gaps Partners seeking investments in educational programming and sustainable solutions
Partners have expressed the value in convening since these Hayward CBOs are at their maximum capacity addressing the day-to-day issues of the community. Compared to neighboring cities with more condensed nonprofit capacity, Hayward’s nonprofit groups addressing food and poverty are concentrated among a few. In the past, Hayward has hosted various
successful coordinated efforts provided by the County like the former Project Eat which was managed by the County’s
Department of Education and birthed the Tennyson Farm and Farm to Fork curriculum at Tennyson High. However,
coordinated efforts by the County have come and gone due to political turnover and the unfortunate loss of champions dedicated to this work. Furthermore, Hayward does not have an obvious organization with the capacity or mission to sustain and lead this local coordination effort and offer Hayward CBOs support in technical support, resource sharing, and resilience planning.
11 Recommended Priorities and Next Steps
Hayward Food Action Plan
Wide to narrow: distilling three main priorities
The process of convening and collecting information from partners with diverse perspectives takes attentive listening and facilitation. In an activity with partners, City staff asked hypothetically, “In an ideal world, if you could have one thing related to the Food Action Plan, what would it be?” Partners responded with the below sticky notes with responses varying from hosting community fridges to receiving support for applying for funding to building funding streams for food recovery.
In the following activity, staff asked partners, “Of those suggested, which ones feel most attainable, yet aspirational?” Partners responded with the below sticky notes. Responses include desire to continue convening, seek further funding and infrastructure to support food access and food recovery, and developing a resource page.
Image 1. Hypothetical question responses from Food Action Partners 12 Image 2. Hypothetical question responses from Food Action Partners Continue convening and
sharing information across
partners
Ongoing City support to
seek funding opportunities
and communicate
resources
Centralized coordination in
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Three Main
Priorities
Recommended Priorities and Next Steps
Hayward Food Action Plan
13 Continue convening and
sharing information across
partners
Ongoing City support to
seek funding opportunities
and communicate
resources
Centralized coordination in
food recovery specifically in
response to SB1383
Three Main
Priorities
Wrapping up and next steps
Feed Hayward has committed to hosting a partnership meeting at least once a quarter moving forward.
City staff will continue to explore funding opportunities for related food work that is currently in the City’s scope of work and share opportunities and offer letters of support for partners.
City staff plans to organize a central food resource page to share with the public and partners along with a public food distribution map.
StopWaste hosts regional resource groups and offers technical support around SB1383 response. However, partners have
shared the need for additional coordination and more localized solution to connect food generators with food distributors and ensure businesses have what they need to successfully meet the State mandate. Hayward’s Environmental Services Division is proposing a series of related action steps as part of the proposed Climate Action Plan (see Attachment III for a draft list).
Local partners that are crucial to food recovery include Daily Bowl and Dig Deep Farms, which is housed in the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs Activities League (DSAL) and was championed by late Supervisor Wilma Chan. DSAL and Daily Bowl, in partnership with Tri-CED, recently approached City staff with a proposal and funding request to increase food recovery activities in Hayward. Environmental Services staff is reviewing this proposal.
Now that the grant work has concluded, many partners have identified their own action steps they plan to take to close the gaps in Hayward’s food system. The partners have expressed gratitude that the City took the initial step in convening this partnership. In addition, during the final planning meeting, partners expressed the desire to see the following cooperative work continue.
Ongoing space to continue convening and sharing resource Ongoing City support to seek funding opportunities and communicate resources to the community
Centralized coordination in food recovery specifically in response to SB1383