African Ancestry Foodways Study
For residents of Santa Clara County
Food is more than fuel — it shapes our health, our culture, and our connection to the world around us. The choices we make about what we eat, where we shop, and what we trust are influenced by cost, availability, culture, and growing concerns about health and climate change. Whether it’s choosing local produce, organic foods, or stretching a budget to feed a family, food decisions reflect our values and priorities.
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The African Ancestry Food Justice Study – Santa Clara County explores how people experience today’s food system through both an online survey and community conversations. We’re gathering insight on food access, purchasing habits, trust in food sources, and beliefs about what makes food healthy and worth buying. Your voice will help guide future programs and build a food system that reflects community values — one rooted in health, culture, fairness, and resilience.
Take the survey
Our Team.
We Start Gardens has a mission to cultivate confidence in everyone to grow their own food. Our work is centered around food justice which calls for a more equitable, affordable, and collaborative food system. To find out what our community needs, we recruited College professors in the research field to ensure we ask the right questions to acheive measurable results. We are very grateful for the effort, clarity, and passion of all our collaborators.
The campaign.
01
Survey
The 10 minute survey will ask questions about where and how you get your food, assess what do you consider healthy food, gauge your participation in the local food system, and discover the best ways to find the food you want and need in your community. Our target is 1000 participants
02
Focus Groups and Interviews
We will conducts interviews and focus groups to dive deeper into the opinions and stories that shape our relationship to food and decisions we make when purchasing and accessing food.
03
Incentive Giveaway events
For everyones participation in the survey and/or interviews, we are offering a bag of produce from a black farmer and VeggieRX cash value coupons to redeem at farmers markets. Take the survey before all incentives are gone!
04
Published Report
Once enough data is gathered, we will compile the findings in a report that will be shared with the community to be used as guide when forming policy and programs for access to black people in the Silicon Valley
Help us spread the study
We can provide you with a marketing package to successfully talk about and distribute the survey to your participants.
Take the survey