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project leader
Steve S
location
1 N. Main Street
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A thank you message from the project leader!

the project

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative’s Mission is to advance the production of and access to healthy food produced in a sustainable, socially just manner by empowering faith communities with models and resources to impact local food systems and advance public policy.

The project empowers congregations to develop programs through networking, technical assistance and financial assistance. The ISFC is building the movement of people demanding healthy, sustainable food by facilitating cooperation with and among faith community leaders.

 

ISFC will provide ‘how to’ resources, and professional technical assistance to implement a range of practices to connect congregants with sustainable food systems in a manner that amplifies faith practice. The project will provide direct financing in the form of mini-grants to start-up projects among congregations to improve food access. The project will serve faith communities and their neighbors by providing resources and guidance for developing programs including:

  • Community Gardens, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Drop-off sites with formal Congregation/Farm Relationships, farmstands to coincide with religious school.
  • Sharing of best practices and networking among interfaith groups active on food and faith matters.
  • Congregational food policies calling for serving fair trade and organic products
  • A speaker’s bureau, and teaching resources to assist clergy and lay leaders talk about the food and agriculture system in a manner consistent with their faith tradition.

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative is led by Steve Schwartz an experienced food systems advocate with over 20 years of professional leadership working with farmers and farm.

the steps

We have been working to develop and advance this new project for almost a year. In the next 45 days we will facilitate congregations in Sonoma and Marin counties participating in World Food Day to raise awareness of food access and sustainable agricultural issues. The next steps include completing the web-site by September 30th; securing an office by October 1st and beginning working with congregations to bring in speakers around the 2012 Farm Bill and other issues related to advancing more healthy food systems. We are currently recruiting  interns and hope to have full-time VISTA volunteers be part of the team this Winter. The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative will be hosting roundtable discussions beginning in November and a conference in February to facilitate sharing of models to improve food systems across the spectrum of the faith community.

why we're doing it

 

The Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative is needed to:

 

  • Change farm and food policy by broadening the base of the sustainable agriculture movement!
  • Reconnect religious people to a sustainable food system through their faith community!
  • Help farmers access new customers!

budget

This is the budget goal through the current IOBY campaign. It will allow us to launch a non-profit project that will build the sustainable agriculture movement for years to come. Line items include:

A computer  $500
Travel $150 

Personnel outreach to congregations, program development, preliminary organizing of regional conference and web design $4,000

Office rent for 3 months will be $2,000
Internet and phone service for 3 months and Google account will be $250
Fiscal sponsor fee is $600

Subtotal = $7,500

3rd Party Credit Card Processing fee = $225

ioby materials and labor = $35

TOTAL = $7,760

updates

A thank you message from the project leader!

Posted 09/26/2012 - 12:00am

Dear Friends:
 
I can not thank you enough for your support of the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative at this initial stage. You have helped launch a program that will strengthen the movement for a more sustainable food system, and convene faith communities to share ideas to help people access local food while deepening religious practice.
 
I never doubted that pending grants would mean this program would eventually get off the ground in a big way. However, as of September 8th, we literally did not have two nickels to rub together. After months of planning, meetings with advisory board members, setting up a structure and doing preliminary outreach to grantors it is clearly time to get an office where we can house volunteers and interns and step up the pace of development. *Your contributions make this possible! *With the matching funds we raised over $2,600 in less than a week.
 
You are one of over 60 people who stepped up during the very brief ‘matching period’ of the campaign to support a unique mission for an organization you had probably never heard of before. I truly appreciate the vote of confidence my family members and friends made. I was especially pleased to see donations from folks that I never knew who heard about the project through an Advisory Board member, friend or the ioby internet site, then quickly decided that they wanted to see this program succeed.*
 
As the Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaborative develops please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas and feedback. I can be reached at 707 217-5603 or Steve@interfaithfood.org.
 
Thank you again!
 
Steve Schwartz
 
P.S. If you would like to get updates on programming and other information in the future and I don’t have your e-mail and other contact information please send it to me.

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • S E S.
  • Monica M.
  • Judith R.
  • Oona M.
  • Eric M.
  • Helen K.
  • Sam W.
  • Juliet G.
  • Doron A.
  • Joshua P.
  • Moses G.
  • Terry H.
  • Marcia I.
  • Keith A.
  • Keith A.
  • Mindy S.
  • Renata B.
  • Jerry A G.
  • Arlene L.
  • Winona R.
  • Mark R.
  • Beverly H.
  • Kate T.
  • Rodney C.
  • Richard R.
  • Charles M.
  • Anne M.
  • JoAnn S.
  • Reid E.
  • Eileen J.
  • Paula S.
  • Betty P.
  • Elizabeth S.
  • Deborah E.
  • Sarah E.
  • Selena P.
  • Steven S.
  • Leo S.
  • Sara T.
  • Debbie R.
  • Christina H.
  • Lawrence J.
  • Kenna L.
  • David S.
  • Anna S.
  • Patricia E.
  • Gerald L.
  • Josephine B.