In response to community demand through the Coalition for a Healthy North LB and the Kaiser Healzone project, Long Beach Fresh began a monthly crop swap in North Long Beach at a community hub – the old firestation at 6509 Gundry Ave that serves as Vice Mayor Richardson’s field office. Several months in, we have […]
Want to help Long Beach residents find local food? Our Local Food Spot Bikes are vintage rescued bikes, intended to spread the good food news at your local hot spot! Who can participate? Local businesses, business districts, and organizations can participate by claiming one of our custom-made bikes to place outside your spot. We’ll bring […]
Long Beach is a city of neighborhoods, and many of those neighborhoods have fruit trees! Some residents are happy to share their fruit, and others yet have fruit trees that spill over into alleyways and other public properties. Meanwhile, many Long Beach residents go without food. What if there were a way to better account for […]
Can we grow food, community, and the local economy all at once? Of course! Using space more creatively for food production is a big piece of the puzzle of changing our food system for the better – and it’s just what Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones (UAIZ) aims to encourage. On Tuesday, May 10th four Long […]
If you have ideas about the little things that people can do to engage in healthier behaviors and become better connected with their food, we encourage you to write a guest post for us (click here for the interest form)! There are a lot of perceived barriers to buying local food and eating well; time, cost, and convenience […]
Did you know that it’s perfectly legal in Long Beach to grow and sell home-grown produce directly to neighbors, chefs, and friends? In this post, we describe some of the background, and how to get started. In 2015, The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services began accepting applications for the Community Food Producers license […]
We’re working to help get better snacks for sale at Long Beach school student stores. At many high and middle school in Long Beach are “stores” or “cafes” which are outside the federal lunch program’s rigorous standards and complex inter-level bureaucracy. The student store is highly independent, typically selling small bags of nuts, chips, fruit […]
Growing a food business is a lot easier when you have affordable access to a commercial kitchen! Many budding food businesses: from homemade ice-cream to farmer’s market hot food providers have contacted us for help finding commercial kitchen space as their businesses have grown. In addition, food entrepreneurs have recognized the need for a commercial […]
One of the best ways to change the food system on a large scale is to change the way the government spends its food dollars. On October 24, 2012, the City of Los Angeles adopted a Good Food Purchasing Policy. Soon after, Los Angeles Unified School District followed… Two years later, they have tested the […]
The relationship between food and our culture, lives and history are so intricate and inexplicable — these stories need to be told. There are places in Long Beach preparing and sharing traditional time-honored ancestors, growing cultural and medicinal herbs, reveling in farm-to-table delights, supporting fair trade and local workers with their purchasing power and more. […]
To truly change food in Long Beach, it will take resident and organizational leaders championing for local, healthy food. Long Beach Fresh wants to connect with food-minded individuals who want to help their neighborhood, business, church, school or social group eat more local, healthy food. The Food Champion Program will create a stronger relationship between […]
In Montreal, Canada, they call Jean-Talon Market the “Chef’s Pantry” because it is where restaurants all over the city come to stock up for the day’s cooking. Long Beach is served by many Farmer’s Market which give chef’s an opportunity to meet farmers from all over the local foodshed, establish relationships and begin to really […]
Imagine being able to check-out seeds, tools to plant and even a parcel of land with your Long Beach Public Library card. The innovators at the Long Beach Public Library and Long Beach Grows are working to establish a Seed Library and a Tool Library at the Main Branch Maker Lab of the Long Beach […]
You could experience 100 different fresh fruits and vegetables and animal species thriving in the farms and gardens on any day in Long Beach. A strong connection to nature, our food and environment can be achieved without leaving the city. We’d like to organize regular tours of Long Beach’s farms, gardens and craft producers. Goals: […]