Food Matters: Community Food Assessments as a Tool for Change

Community practitioners have paid little attention to food insecurity, an issue that has been addressed primarily at the individual level through emergency food assistance. Addressing community food security requires an approach to practice that considers and links all aspects of the food system including production, processing, distribution, and consumption. This article draws on a social justice framework to critically reflect on a Community Food Assessment (CFA), an integrative, systematic, and participatory approach to community practice that combines community organizing, policy advocacy, research, coalition building, and community development. Social work's core values and its broad skill set make it well suited to play a key role in these efforts. (C) 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.