Dig Deep Farms Food Hub
At TWAICB, we constantly look towards methods of fulfilling the ideals of the UDHR into practice, and, quite often, it is through collaboration, cooperation, and imagining new ways for communities to support each other and come together that we can see change being made. On January 17th, 2020, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs’ Activities League (DSAL), and All IN Alameda County (ALL IN) held the grand opening of the Dig Deep Farms Food Hub:
The DDF Food Hub is a newly constructed, community-based food aggregation, distribution, and small business incubation center designed to get healthy food onto the plates of food-insecure Alameda County residents.
Similar to the Community Capitals Framework, this project is connected to UDHR Articles:
- Article 22. Everyone has the right to have her/his basic needs met and to live in dignity. Governments have a duty to help make this possible.
- Article 23. Everyone has the right to work, to choose the work s/he does, to be paid fairly and equally, and to join a union.
- Article 25. Everyone has the right to food, clothes, shelter, medical care and economic security. Mothers and children have the right to special care and assistance.
- Article 27. Everyone has the right to participate in the cultural life of their community and to share in the benefits of scientific advancements.
TWAICB is proud to be a program of DSAL!
DSAL Executive Director, Hilary Bass (From The Mercury News), January 17, 2020
“I think the potential is huge,” says Hilary D. Bass, senior programs specialist for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s part of our policing model, because we understand that you can’t expect people to make healthy choices when they’re struggling so immensely with the stress of poverty and the challenges that come with that.”
That framework has guided the county’s sheriff’s office work in the community, Bass said, and inspired the creation of the farming program for the formerly incarcerated. “We determined that unless we address areas around economic and workforce development and curbing poverty, we couldn’t get to the roots of crime,” she said.
The Dig Deep Farms Food Hub is part of ACSO’s Community Capitals Policing initiative to break down silos, build new collaborations, and lead community-driven efforts to create stronger systems, stronger places, and stronger relationships to reduce crime and help people thrive.
The 3,300-square-foot DDF Food Hub will feature a food recovery program, a permaculture initiative, a small business incubator, a farm-to-fork initiative, and a commercial kitchen. The DDF Food Hub will also support ALL IN Alameda County’s Food as Medicine initiative, a collaborative effort to provide families with access to healthy food and nutrition and to make it easier for healthcare providers to use healthy food as an intervention tool for diet-related illnesses.
ACSO, DSAL, and ALL IN worked closely together to bring the DDF Food Hub to completion in order to:
- get healthy, locally grown produce into households that struggle with food insecurity or diet-related health issues;
- support Alameda County’s “Food as Medicine” initiative by having doctors provide “prescriptions” of fresh produce to patients at risk of metabolic disease and/or food insecurity;
- rescue more than 300,000 pounds of edible food each year through a food recovery initiative and repackage and deliver the food to affordable housing locations and low-income residents;
- provide employment opportunities and entrepreneurship support for teens and adults with barriers to employment (such as recent incarceration);
- work with Alameda Health System, Alameda Alliance for Health, and Open Source Wellness to expand Food as Medicine into new clinics throughout the county.
