Roots of Change Report: Agriculture, Ecology, Health in California
In early 2001, the funders released Roots of Change, a groundbreaking report that consolidated information from policymakers, farmers, scientists, and activists in the food systems field with data from multiple state agencies. This report described the state of agriculture in California by documenting its detrimental effects on environmental health, biodiversity, marine ecosystems, worker rights, public health, animal welfare, and regional economies; and by identifying a common root cause: a conventional food system that negatively effects the environment, farmers, and consumers. Roots of Change makes the case that all these problems can be addressed by the systemic transition to sustainable food systems.

Roots of Change Report


Roots of Change Fund
In consultation with stakeholder groups, the funders have identified the major barriers to systemic change and agreed to establish the Roots of Change Fund-a foundation collaborative supporting the transition to sustainable food systems. By leveraging pooled resources and outside expertise, the ROC Fund will increase the human and financial resources devoted to this issue, strengthen this emerging field, and support work toward systemic change.

By advocating approaches that address the food system as a whole, the many problems linked to the severe degradation of environmental health and biodiversity of California will be addressed simultaneously. The Roots of Change (ROC) Fund aims to address these issues through a three-year funding collaborative.

Roots of Change Fund