The San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition has been entrusted with more than $1.1 million in funding to create an "equitable" vision for our local food system. But their recently released Community Food and Agriculture Assessment shows a disturbing lack of input from the Valley residents most impacted by food insecurity.
As the CFAA report itself acknowledges, "we did not have significant participation from typically underrepresented communities such as Indigenous people, the elderly, youth, houseless, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers." Generational Valley Hispano families dealing with poverty and health disparities are also largely absent from this assessment.
Without the voices and perspectives of our most marginalized neighbors, the CFAA findings risk creating policy and solutions that will only widen existing inequities, not solve them. We demand that the LFC stop using flawed, non-representative data to shape food policies that will determine how resources and funding will be allocated across the Valley. Only by centering the lived experiences of those most impacted can we build a truly equitable local food system.
We hope you will join us in using our voices to speak up against inequity and stop the misuse of these much needed resources.
By signing this petition, you are demanding that the LFC:
1: Stop Using Flawed Data: Stop presenting the CFAA Report data and findings for food access policy decisions and requests for further funding.
2: Acknowledge Lack of Community Involvement: Immediately add a front page disclaimer to the CFAA report describing lack of community involvement, and make this clear in any discussion about the project.
3: Pause Programming and Promotion: Halt planned CFAA programming and promotion until an action plan outlining how the LFC should proceed is developed with approval from impacted communities in the Valley.