Everyone has policy ideas, including you, right? Want to bring your ideas to life by sharing them, gathering feedback, and strategizing with some seasoned policy advocates?

We warmly invite you to our Food Policy Cafe, a two-part event (you can come to both or either!):

1. From 5:00PM - 6:00PM: Teach-In

From 5:00PM - 6:00PM, there will be a DIY Food Policy Teach-in by the Sustainable Economies Law Center's Policy Director, Christina Oatfield and the Oakland Food Policy Council's Executive Director, Shaniece Alexander, who will share their experiences as food policy advocates, how to learn about and track current food policy issues, and ways to get involved and make change on a variety of issues impacting the food system.

2. From 6:00PM - 7:30PM: One-on-One Policy Consultations

From 6:00PM to 7:30PM, bring your policy idea (whether it’s food-related or not) and we’ll facilitate individualized brainstorming sessions, where you can get advice on questions such as:

• What are the next steps after I have come up with my policy idea?
• How do I draft a policy proposal?
• How do I approach council members, county supervisors, or other legislators about my idea?
• How do I navigate the legislative process?

This event is part of our Transformative Policymakers project, and it’s modeled after our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe, which provides donation-based legal advice for the community.  

And there will be snacks!

About the Presenters

Shaniece Alexander

Currently as the Executive Director of the Oakland Food Policy Council, Shaniece focuses on creating and implementing equitable policy through addressing the systemic impacts of racism, poverty, and incarceration on people of color. She maintains a commitment to a combination of community centered program design, legislative advocacy and policy reform as the approach for systemic change for individuals, families and communities.

Christina Oatfield

Christina is our Law Center's California state advocate for laws that enable more sustainable, local, and just economies. She has played leadership roles in support of California legislation to advance homemade food, urban agriculture, seed sharing, worker cooperatives, affordable housing land trusts, housing cooperatives, and local investing. Christina contributes to the Law Center's publications and educational events related to food law and grassroots finance (i.e. securities law).