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2 Whole Measures for Community Food Systems

3Community Food Security Coalition

WHOLE MEASURESfor Community Food Systems:

Working Group Members:

Jeanette Abi-NaderAdrian AysonKeecha HarrisHank HerreraDarcel Eddins

Deb HabibJim HannaChris PatersonKarl SuttonLydia Villanueva

VALUES-BASEDPLANNING AND EVALUATION


Many voices contributed to the development of Whole Measures for Community Food Systems.(Please refer to the inside back cover for the names of our many contributors.) We areespecially grateful to the Community Food Security Whole Measures Working Group whomet consistently for fifteen months and gave much time and insight. We are also grateful tothe Center for Whole Communities who developed the original Whole Measures. Theirvision for a new way to measure and define success inspired us to create this version forcommunity food systems development.

Contributors

Whole Measures for Community Food Systems isbased on Center for Whole Communities’

Whole Measures:Transforming Our Vision of Success,

sixth edition

Community Food Security Coalition3830 SE Division StreetPortland, OR [email protected]

Center for Popular Research, Education,and Policy (C-PREP)

758 South AveRochester, New York 14620585-473-4630www.c-prep.org

• Jeanette Abi-Nader,Community Food SecurityCoalition

• Adrian Ayson, Center forWhole Communities

• Keecha Harris, Keecha Harrisand Associates, Inc.

• Hank Herrera, Center forPopular Research, Education,and Policy

• Darcel Eddins, BountifulCities Project

• Deb Habib, Seeds ofSolidarity

• Jim Hanna• Chris Paterson, Center for

Popular Research, Education,and Policy

• Karl Sutton, Sustainable Lives• Lydia Villanueva, CASA del

Llano

Center for Whole Communities700 Bragg Hill RoadFayston, Vermont 05673www.wholecommunities.orgwww.wholemeasures.org

Copyright © 2009 by Center for WholeCommunities. All rights reserved.We welcomelimited duplication of contents of Whole Measuresfor Community Food Systems for non-profit andeducational purposes. Please credit the source inall copies and include this page of authorship.

Cover illustration by Heidi and Scott Gates, Blue Platypus DesignsGraphics design and layout by Adrian Ayson

Community Food Security Whole Measures Working Group:


WHOLE MEASURES

CONTENTS

Working For Whole Communities

Elements of Whole Measures for Community Food Systems

How to Use Whole Measures CFS

Whole Measures CFS as a Planning Tool

Instructions Overview

Overview of Values-Based Fields

Justice and Fairness

Strong Communities

Vibrant Farms

Healthy People

Sustainable Ecosystems

Thriving Local Economies

Glossary

Evaluation Team Discussion GuidesA. Facilitation Discussion GuideB. Values Discussion GuideC. Defining Intended Outcomes Discussion GuideD. Evaluation Discussion GuideE. Debriefing Discussion Guide

A Brief History of Whole Measures CFS

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for Community Food Systems:VALUES-BASED PLANNING AND EVALUATION


Working for Whole Communities

Community Food Security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturallyappropriate, nutritionally sound diet through an economically and environmentally sustainable foodsystem that promotes community self-reliance and social justice.

(Based on a definition by Mike Hamm and Anne Bellows)

The World Hunger Year’s Food Security Learning Center describes community food security as:At a basic level, Community Food Security is about making healthy food accessible to all. It focuses onbringing fresh, local food into low-income communities, thereby reducing hunger, and improvingindividual health. But, as the definition above suggests, it’s about much more than that.

THE SPECTRUM OF THOSE WORKING TOWARDS

community food security is culturally andgeographically diverse, spanning a broadrange of people, places and activities.Organizations and individuals working in thefood system and building food securecommunities create complex relationshipsand inter-related activities.

For example, an urban farmers’ marketmay also house a job-skills program thattrains young mothers to teach cooking skills.At the close of the market, gleaners come byto pick up extra produce for the food bank,while a local composter gathers food waste tobe recycled. Farmers at the market may alsorun a cooperative distribution site for localrestaurants and institutions like schools andhospitals, as well as hold a seat on the localfood policy council that helps definepriorities for the area’s food systemdevelopment.

Complex relationships and connections suchas these are at the heart of building wholecommunities. Because of their intricacy,however, they can also be difficult to measure.

Over the past eight years, Community FoodProject grantees have expressed interest infinding ways to communicate the story of theirwork. In addition to counting the number ofpounds produced, partners engaged, youthtrained, and other specific outputs, grantees areinterested in sharing the importance of theconnections between these outputs, the impactsof the relationships cultivated, the reinforce-ment of underlying values, and the ways inwhich respect was communicated.

Whole Measures for Community Food Systemsis designed to give organizations andcommunities a collaborative process fordefining and expressing their complex storiesand the multiple outcomes that emerge fromtheir work.

What is Community Food Security?

• Providing fair wages and decent workingconditions for farmers and food systemworkers

• Promoting social justice and more equitableaccess to resources

• Empowering diverse people to worktogether to create positive changes in thefood system and their communities.

Community Food Security is about:

• Making nutritious and culturally appro-priate food accessible, not just any food

• Supporting local, regional, family-scale, andsustainable food production building andrevitalizing local communities andeconomies


Community food security is about creating holistic community food systems that have theability to transform the way people connect with food, community and land. It is this integratedand comprehensive approach that makes community food security work so compelling and socomplex to measure.

Beyond Outputs and Outcomes

There are many evaluation tools and resources.Mostly, they provide direction for measuringprogress towards specific objectives and fortracking outputs. What is counted may bebased on what project activities are imple-mented or on expectations from funders formeasuring certain outcomes. While theseoutputs and outcomes are important,measuring the success of community foodprojects requires more than the compilationof statistics.

Understanding a community food systemrequires asking questions about what is truly

valued: What kind of community do we wantto live and work in? How are we, in ourorganizations, helping build and sustain thosehealthy and whole communities? And howcan we evaluate, define, discuss, and measurethe success of our work in a way that supportsour vision of whole, food-secure commu-nities? Finding whole measures that givesubstance to outputs and outcomes requiresboth exploring and telling a more detailedstory about the values reflected in our workand the impacts, both positive and negative,of our efforts.

Whole Measures for Community Food Systems

Whole Measures for Community Food Systems(Whole Measures CFS) is a values-based,community-oriented tool for evaluation,planning, and dialogue geared towardorganizational and community change. WholeMeasures CFS invites organizations to build onthe reporting of outputs and outcomes and tohighlight and measure the multitude of inter-connected indicators that define a healthy,whole community.

Based on the Whole Measures tool originallydeveloped by the Center for Whole Commu-nities (www.wholecommunities.org), WholeMeasures CFS encourages all those who careabout people, food, and the land to apply abig-picture approach. By using Whole MeasuresCFS, organizations can look beyond theirspecific mission and think in terms of thebroadest possible picture for a healthycommunity: access to healthy and affordablefood, strong community ties and self-

determination, thriving local economies,sustainable ecosystems, healthy people,vibrant farms, social justice, fairness, andcivic participation.

Whole Measures for Community FoodSystems is designed as a complement tostandard evaluation tools. At its core, WholeMeasures CFS aims to elevate and informdialogue about the central values that trulymatter while analyzing the impacts of ourwork and activities. It helps develop ashared vision and common measuresamong partner organizations. It helpsexplore areas of difference so thatcollaborations can cultivate richness andtrue representation. It helps collaboratingorganizations answer the question ‘In whatways does our work affect the creation ofhealthy, whole communities?” And finally,it helps to share the stories of our complexand dynamic community food projects.


Elements of Whole Measures CFSThere are many ways to create whole communities. This version of Whole Measures CFS includessix fields of practices that reflect a vision for whole communities seen through the lens ofcommunity food system development. Each field includes: a summary of its underlying intent, aset of four values-based practices that express this vision in action, and descriptions of sampleoutcomes often achieved by community food system groups that contribute to the larger set ofhealthy relationships that make up a whole community. The related practices and sampleoutcomes for each field are shown in rubrics (scoring tools that use a table to list and rate thecriteria for what counts) so that individuals and organizations can respond to and rate their workagainst these measures.

The Whole Measures for Community Food Systems Fields and Practices are:

Justice and Fairness• Provides food for all• Reveals, challenges, and dismantles

injustice in the food system• Creates just food system structures

and cares for food system workers• Ensures that public institutions and

local businesses support a justcommunity food system

STRONG COMMUNITIES

• Improves equity and responds tocommunity food needs

• Contributes to healthy neighbor-hoods

• Builds diverse and collaborativerelationships, trust, and reciprocity

• Supports civic participation,political empowerment, and localleadership

VIBRANT FARMS

• Supports local, sustainable familyfarms to thrive and be economi-cally viable

• Protects and cares for farmers andfarm-workers

• Honors stories of food and farmlegacy through community voices

• Respects farm animals

HEALTHY PEOPLE

• Provides healthy food for all• Ensures the health and well-

being of all people, inclusive ofrace and class

• Connects people and the foodsystem, from field to fork

• Connects people and land topromote health and wellness

SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

• Sustains and grows a healthyenvironment

• Promotes an ecological ethic• Enhances biodiversity• Promotes agricultural and food

distribution practices that mitigateclimate change

THRIVING LOCAL ECONOMIES

• Creates local jobs and builds long-term economic vitality within thefood system

• Builds local wealth• Promotes sustainable develop-

ment while strengthening localfood systems

• Includes infrastructure thatsupports community and environ-mental health


How to Use Whole Measures CFSWhole Measures for Community Food Systems is both a planning and evaluation tool. The toolwas developed for groups to use for a variety of purposes. This section describes how to useWhole Measures CFS from the early stages of a project (defining outcomes) through to the finalstages of reflection (discussing evaluation results and potential changes). Organizations canplug into this process at various stages and modify the use of the tool to suit their needs andworking culture.

One of the most significant ways that Whole Measures CFS catalyzes and supports change isthrough a dialogue and learning process. The potential for impact is greatest in settings wheregroups of people with diverse experiences and perspectives use Whole Measures CFS toindividually assess the outcomes of projects in their community and then engage in dialoguewith each other around how and why they came to their responses.

This process is described below in six basic steps: Forming an Evaluation Team,Understanding the Rubrics, Defining Intended Outcomes, Individual Ratings, GroupDialogue, and Utilizing Results. An Instructions Overview of the steps can be found on page15. Detailed Evaluation Discussion Guides that supplement the description of these steps canbe found beginning on page 32.

Forming an Evaluation TeamSTEP

1 Who in an organization orcommunity should participatein the Whole Measures CFSprocess? The evaluation team,or group of individualsleading and conducting theevaluation, is often composedof key staff, participants, andproject partners. Groups ofsix to twelve people may offerthe greatest opportunities fordialogue, learning, andguiding the evaluationprocess throughout.

More important than thenumber of people engaged in

the process is to ensure thatdifferent perspectives arebrought into the dialogue.Through this dialogueprocess, a “thinkingtogether” can emerge asdifferent perspectives andexperiences are shared andlearning occurs amongparticipants.

Forming an evaluationteam also includes clarifyingthe focus and purpose of thework that is being under-taken. It is important todefine early on what steps in

the process the group willuse. It is also important thateveryone on the evaluationteam is familiar with the workat hand and has an under-standing of or access toinformation regarding projectactivities. Providing detailedinformation to the evaluationteam such as projectactivities, tracking andevaluation results compiledfrom surveys, work logs, andother evaluation efforts willadd richness and relevancy tothe discussions.


Understanding the RubricsSTEP

2 Once an evaluation team isformed, it is important tobecome familiar with WholeMeasures CFS’s framework.Whole Measures CFS usesrubrics (scoring tools that usea table to list and rate thecriteria for what counts) topresent each of the six fields(Justice and Fairness, StrongCommunities, Vibrant Farms,Healthy People, SustainableEcosystems, Thriving LocalEconomies).

Within each rubric are fourvalues-based practices. Thesepractices were developedwith input from dozens ofcommunity food projects andrepresent common qualitiesthey strive for as they seek to

create healthier, wholecommunities. They are alsoqualities that are most oftenmentioned as essential yethard to measure. Thesepractices are numbered andhighlighted in each rubric.

The fields and practicesdefined in Whole MeasuresCFS are mostly broad inscope and can apply to avariety of communitydevelopment initiatives. (Asummary of the Fields andPractices can be found onpage 8.)

For each practice, there isa list of bulleted sampleoutcomes. These outcomesreflect what many commu-nity food projects aim to

achieve through eachparticular practice. Theoutcomes are specific tocommunity food systemdevelopment work and eachgroup is encouraged tomodify these to reflect theirproject. (This process ofmodifying outcomes isdescribed in Step 3 below.)

Like any tool, WholeMeasures CFS has its ownlanguage. It will be useful(and save time in the longrun) to ensure that theevaluation team has time toread the entire documentand become familiar with allof the terms and elementsincluded. (Also see theGlossary on page 30.)

STEP

3Defining Intended Outcomes

Once an evaluation team isfamiliar with Whole MeasuresCFS, it is time to begin

modifying the tool for eachcircumstance. It is importantfor an organization to explorehow the fields and practiceswithin Whole Measures CFSrelate to the organization’smission and values. While theauthors have strived to makethe language as applicableand representative as possiblefor a wide range of projectsand contexts, it will not beequally relevant or appro-priate for all groups. Eachorganization should modifythe sample outcomesdescribed in a way that more

At the start of a project:

1. For each practice, ask, “In what ways willour work contribute to this practice? ”

2. Agree on a set of concise intendedoutcomes. (Sample outcomes areincluded and can be used or modified.)

3. Ensure that they are measurable (if notthrough data collection, then throughobservation and discussion).

4. Replace the sample outcomes with yourspecific outcomes.

specifically describes theoutcomes of their project.Rows can be added to eachpractice for includingadditional outcomes to bemeasured.

Clearly defining theintended outcomes for aproject up front allows fortransparency in planning anda clearer ability to moveactivities in that direction.Therefore, it is recommendedthat groups conduct this steptogether at the beginning ofthe project. It is also useful toperiodically revisit the


purpose of the project, andthis tool can be used tocheck-in with participantsregarding their view of theintended outcomes andvarious stages in the process.

One question that oftenarises is “Must we use/rate allof the practices?” The authorsand contributors to WholeMeasures CFS believe thateach of the fields andpractices listed in this guideare important objectives forconsidering the relationshipbetween people, food, andthe land. It may be temptingto discard those practices thatdo not seem to be directlyrelevant to the intendedoutcomes of a project,

THERE ARE MANY ISSUES TO CONSIDER

when defining outcomes. They include:

• Long-term, intermediate, andshort-term outcomes

• Changes in outcomes due tochanging context

• Negative outcomes

Scope of Outcomes: Many of the sampleoutcomes listed in the tool are long-termin nature and reflect an ideal communityfood system characteristic. It is helpfulto consider how project activitiescontribute to or take away from theselong-term goals. At the same time, it isalso important to incorporate short-termoutcomes that reflect the immediatework of a project.

Changing Outcomes: Community foodsystem work is implemented in a broadand changing community context. Whendefining and revisiting outcomes,explore to what degree the outcomes arespecifically related to program activitiesand in what way they are affected bybroader community changes. Thisawareness will enrich the understandingof a project’s ability to effect change.

Negative Outcomes: It is also useful foran evaluation team to consider anypotentially negative impacts of theirwork. Paying attention to what could orhas gone wrong in a project providesinsight into future planning and helpsan organization to be responsible to thepeople in its community.

program, or organization.However, the fields andpractices within WholeMeasures CFS were written asa set to be consideredcarefully. A major purposeand value of engaging WholeMeasures for CommunityFood Systems is to increaserecognition of and broadenunderstanding of the widerset of impacts – bothintended and unintended –that community food systemefforts may have on creatingand sustaining healthycommunities.

The outcomes, however,were written as examples tobe modified according toeach specific situation.

STEP

4Individual Ratings

The threesteps aboveare ideallyimplementednear thebeginning of a

project, or at least early on inthe evaluation process. Step4, however, is usuallyimplemented either mid-wayor at the end of a project,when the evaluation team isready for reflection on pastactivities.

The rubric includes anoption for users to rate eachof the agreed upon outcomeson a scale from negative tohighest impact achieved.

There are five ratings in therubric that correspond to ascale from -3 to +10. Minus 3represents a negative impact,while +10 corresponds to thehighest positive impact. Therating for the “highestimpact” is intentionally set at10, and the next lower rating,(strong) at 5, to show that thehighest impact should beperceived as having attainedroughly twice as muchpositive outcome, and shouldreflect the highest aspirationfor a project.

Groups that have usedWhole Measures have foundthat individually rating a


project’s impact is a usefulway to provide time forthoughtfulness and can be avehicle for incorporatingvarious perspectives. It isrecommended that eachperson on the evaluationteam spend time goingthrough the rubrics. For eachof the practices listed in afield, individuals should placea checkmark in the columnthat most closely correspondsto the level impact achievedfor the relevant outcomes.

Based upon the ratings foreach of these outcomes, otherinformation known that isrelevant to making a judg–ment, and each individual’soverall perception of theproject’s impact, he or sheselects an overall rating foreach practice. This overallrating does not need to be astrict average. The impactratings are meant to inform,not prescribe, the overallrating for each practice. Thisoverall rating can be numeric

(based on the rating scaleprovided or some other scale)or narrative (based on adescriptor of the level ofimpact for that practice.)

During the dialogueprocess, each person willhave an opportunity todiscuss the reasons for theirrating of each outcome andpractice. Because of this, it ishelpful to take notes andcomment on how this projector organization has or has notachieved the intended impact.

STEP

5Group Dialogue

The individual assessmentsbecome the basis for a groupdiscussion intended toproduce higher levels ofshared meaning and

strengths and weaknesses;and point to opportunities forimprovement. With this inmind, it is helpful to explorethose areas where there is awide range of individualresponses for any givenpractice or field of practices.Averages are less interestingand perhaps less useful thanexploring widely divergentresponses. Keep in mind thatinformation about thedifferences in responsesacross people and groups maybe very important and useful.Do not to rush to consensus.Asking questions about whyparticipants in the processhold different views regardingthe program or project will beuseful. Seeking to understandthe perspectives andjudgment that differentpeople bring to their

assessment will open up newunderstanding and learningand form a more effectivebasis for moving ahead as agroup.

Additionally, communityfood system work is complexand changing. It is helpful todiscuss changes in thecontext of the work and howthese changes may haveaffected the ability or desireto achieve intendedoutcomes.

“Dialogue”, a processwhere each person in thegroup has an opportunity toexpress his or her perspectivewhile the remainder of thegroup gives their fullattention, is a tool that groupscan use to enhance engage-ment. (See Evaluation TeamDiscussion Guides starting onpage 32.)

collective judgment of the project’sperformance across each field of practices.There is no right or best way to proceedthrough the rubrics in a small group setting.A group may choose to review and discusseach individual practice and its outcomesone at a time, to discuss the scores given toa complete set of practices under one field(e.g. Justice and Fairness or StrongCommunities), or to pick out only thoseareas where there seems to be a diversity ofresponses from many participants.Schedule wise, a group may choose to setup a series of meetings over time or tocommit a full day or retreat time to workthrough this dialogue process.

The most important consideration is thatthe process is designed to promotelearning; help develop a stronger sharedunderstanding of the project’s outcomes,


Utilizing ResultsSTEP

6 Ways to Use Whole Measures CFS Evaluation Results:• Program and Organizational Improvement• Reports and Fundraising• Community Education and Outreach• Contributing to the Body of Knowledge

effective as well as to providedirection for change. Theevaluation team can discussthe results in relation to theoriginal goals of a project.Then create an action plan torespond to the currentdegree of impact in a way thatwill move a project closer tothe highest degree ofintended impact. An actionplan typically includes thesuggested action, identifieswho is responsible forimplementing the action, andincludes a timeline for itsimplementation.

Reports and Fundraising:The results can be wonderfuladditions to grant and annualreports, or they can beincorporated in new grantproposals. The qualitativenature of the findings canhelp paint a picture ofsuccesses, challenges, andplans for improvement. Quotes and stories fromthose using Whole MeasuresCFS can serve as testimony tothe collective, participatoryapproach of assessmentefforts and impact on diversesectors of a community.

Summary of Evaluation Results -What to Include

Community Education andOutreach: Findings andstories gleaned from theWhole Measures CFS processmay become part of pre-sentations and communityeducation efforts thatdescribe the work of anorganization or outcomes of aspecific project and therebyencourage communityengagement and reflection.

Contributing to the Body ofKnowledge: Results andinsights from one organiza-tion’s evaluation experiencemay be helpful to others inthe community food securitymovement. Many practitio-ners, especially in grassrootsorganizations with limitedcapacity to carry out exten-sive or traditional research,will benefit from learningabout the experiences andresults of others who haveused the Whole Measures forCommunity Food Systemstool. Results may be formu-lated into articles or researchreports that build and en-hance the body of research—sharing experience, know-ledge and lessons learned.

The power of WholeMeasures for CommunityFood Systems is its ability tocatalyze new ways of thinkingand acting together. This ismore likely to happen insituations where there is adeliberate and intentionalcommitment to use andrevisit the results to effectchanges in actions, strategies,and missions. Consider aheadof time how the results will besummarized and used, andmake sure someone iscapturing the key points ofdiscussions and decisionsmade. Consider how toprovide a summary of theresults that can be readilyshared with programparticipants, the evaluationteam, and other stakeholders.

There are a number of waysthat the results can be used:

Program and OrganizationalImprovement: Use insightsfrom the evaluation processto make programs more

• Introduction, background, andmethodology

• Evaluation results: key themes,lessons learned, evaluation ratings (ifused)

• Recommendations: reflections onresults, action steps recommended

• Conclusion


Whole Measures for Community Food Systems isoften described at first glance as an evaluationtool. It answers the question “Are we doingthings right?” However, Whole Measures CFSis equally productive as a planning andvisioning tool. It can help organizationsanswer the questions “Are we doing the rightthings?” and, “What is our vision of a wholecommunity?” By providing a stimulatingframework as common ground for assessmentand dialogue, all members of a communitycan productively engage with each other,often leading to surprising collaborationsamong groups that might be very differentfrom one another.

Organizations have used Whole MeasuresCFS as a provocative tool in projects rangingfrom writing annual plans to designingleadership training programs, developing

town policies, and assessing regionaldevelopment plans. In addition, anorganization can use it within a strategicplanning process to assess internal strengthsand weaknesses, or to identify externalopportunities. Collaborating organizationscan use Whole Measures CFS as commonground in framing measures of success thatnormally may vary tremendously from oneorganization to another. Whole Measures CFScan also be used as a polling instrument –community members at large can be askedto rate the status of food security in thecommunity as a whole and therebyrevealing the level of perceived needs andopportunities.

The power of Whole Measures CFS lies inits ability to stimulate new ways of thinkingand acting together.

When used as a planning tool, Whole Measures CFS:

Whole Measures CFS as a Planning Tool

• Is an effective training and strategic planning tool that helps staff, board,partners, and community members think big picture and learn more aboutthe potential impacts of the group’s work.

• Initiates a process of organizational change that leads to being more open tothe perspectives of others, collaborating authentically with new constituents,and honoring the larger meaning of the organization’s work.

• Offers a sophisticated yet easy-to-use form of project selection criteria tohelp staff make choices among new projects and programs.

• Is an engaging and easy-to-use assessment tool that allows diversecommunity groups or individuals to find common ground in the things thatmatter most to them.


Instructions Overview

Step 1: Forming anEvaluation Team

Step 2: Understandingthe Rubrics

Step 3: DefiningIntendedOutcomes

Step 4: IndividualRatings

Step 5: Group Dialogue

Step 6: Utilizing Results

Pull together a diverse set of project stakeholders with an array ofperspectives and experiences who will work together to implement theWhole Measures CFS evaluation and make recommendations on how to usethe results for program improvement. Provide team with informationregarding program activities and evaluation results. Define scope of team’swork.

Each member on the evaluation team spends time familiarizing themselveswith the framework of Whole Measures CFS.

Discuss how the fields and practices proposed in Whole Measures CFSreflect the organizational or project mission and values and the strategiesproposed for building a healthy, food secure community. Clarify theintended project outcomes that will be measured. [Note: The sampleoutcomes included within the document can be used as a starting pointand modified to suit the unique circumstances of the project, organization,or community during the evaluation.]

Each member of the evaluation team rates the overall level of impact forthis practice and associated outcomes:

-3 = Negative Impact 0 = Neutral Impact; made no difference, positively or negatively+3 = Some Impact+5 = Strong Impact10 = Highest Impact

Narrative ratings may also be used. As individuals rate the outcomes, it ishelpful to take notes and make comments on how each person thinks thisproject (or organization) has or has not achieved the intended impact.

As an evaluation team, discuss the individual ratings. Discuss results in away that promotes learning; helps develop a stronger shared understandingof the project’s outcomes, strengths and weaknesses; and points toopportunities for improvement. Come to agreement on key themes andlessons learned.

Summarize and share results. Based on the collective understanding of theproject’s outcomes, create a plan to respond to the current degree ofimpact in a way that will move the project closer to the highest degree ofintended impact.

For the remaining steps, work on one field at a time. For each of the practices listed in a field:


Vibrant Farms

Vibrant farms are central to the health and vitality of commu-nity-based food systems. While diverse in scale, methods, cropsand markets, farms that contribute whole communities oftenembody practices that eliminate or minimize pesticides, supportbiodiversity, promote humane treatment of animals, andprovide safe, just working conditions. Vibrant farms are often“local farms” that shorten the gap between farmer andconsumer and actively contribute to sustaining and revitalizingregional food systems and economies. The continuation oftraditional farms and practices, multigenerational family farms,and support for young farmers and immigrant farmers areessential to the future of farming, and food for all.

Strong Communities

Food can be a common and unifying force socially, culturally,and spiritually. A strong food system builds strong commu-nities across class, race, age, education, and other socialcategories. Cultivating leadership from within a communityand forging relationships based on characteristics such as trust,respect, and transparency can strengthen resilience, buildcapacity and enhance engagement for change toward a sharedvision of whole community.


Just and fair food and farms come from food systems deli-berately organized to promote social equity, justice, workerrights, and health through all activities. Achieving justice andfairness is an ongoing and evolving process involving manymembers of a community. It is a process that cultivates appro-priate venues to recognize and dismantle unjust systems andthat works to create alternative just systems.

Overview of Values-Based Fields


Thriving Local Economies

Thriving local economies depend upon the ecological integrity ofthe earth, its ecosystems, and species living within those ecosys-tems. Thriving local economies form decisions that ensure thewellbeing of future generations. They account for hidden costs indecision-making and work to build systems that regenerateoutput (wastes) into input (resources). Thriving local economiesmay utilize decentralized, participatory, and democraticprocesses designed to be informed by diverse communitymembers and based upon a community’s assets.

Sustainable Ecosystems

Sustainable, balanced ecosystems are built upon interdependentrelationships, depend upon clean air and water and healthy soil,and provide the foundation for all life. Developing wholecommunities and strong and just food systems means honoringthis interdependence and enhancing ecological integrity throughour actions. A sustainable food system depends upon a sus-tainable ecosystem and produces, processes, and distributesfood in a way that supports and enhances rather than destroysecological systems.

Healthy People

Community and individual health includes our physical, social,mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. All of these dimen-sions are intrinsically connected to food and food systems. Forexample, engaging with community members at farmers’markets promotes our social connectedness. Learning to prepareour own food contributes to our mental development andenhances our resiliency. Growing food helps develop ourphysical and spiritual awareness as we connect to larger naturalsystems. Whole communities need whole people andcommunity food systems that increase access to healthy foodwhile also cultivating broader dimensions of health.


*Examples of highest outcomes for this field are included in the italicized bulleted lists.Modify these outcomes to fit the specific characteristics and activities of each projectthat is using Whole Measures for Community Food Systems.

JUST

ICE

AN

D F

AIR

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S

A Food System that is Just and Fair*:

1. Provides food for all

• Ensures access for all community members to fresh, healthy, affordable, and culturallyappropriate food.

• Demonstrates a decrease in food insecurity (hunger, obesity, diet-related disease).

2. Reveals, challenges, and dismantles injustice in the food system

• Upholds the dignity and quality of life for all who work in the food system (production,processing, distribution, and sales).

• Heals the social, historical, cultural, and spiritual connections among people, foodand the land.

• Describes a clear vision of and moves towards creating fair alternatives tounjust food systems.

3. Creates just food system structures and cares for food system workers

• Develops and implements policies that protect food system worker rights.

• Ensures safe working conditions and fair wages without discrimination for those who workin the food system.

• Affirms diversity in regards to race, class, ability, gender, religion, sexual orientation, andother cultural identities.

4. Ensures that public institutions and local businesses support a just communityfood system

• Ensures that schools and other public institutions serve healthy and delicious meals to alland gives preference to purchasing food from local farms.

• Sustains stores in every community that sell healthy, high quality, affordable foods.

• Supports local food processing and distribution efforts that are viable and that create safe,healthy, and meaningful livelihoods for all those who work in the food system.


Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact

-3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10

RATING SCALE:

Overall ratingfor this practice:






STR

ON

G C

OM

MU

NIT

IES

A Food System that Builds Strong and Resilient Communities*:

1. Improves equity and responds to community food needs

• Involves a broad range of community members in defining and supporting food-related goals.

• Builds capacity for and community control of food resources and assets.

• Supports community resilience to social and environmental threats like food insecurity,violence, disease, illiteracy, and fuel and energy shortages and costs.

2. Contributes to healthy neighborhoods

• Ensures space for food production and distribution that is safe, enjoyable, andaccessible to a diverse community.

• Promotes shared work around food projects that strengthen the community.

• Balances community food goals with housing, transportation, and social goals.

3. Builds diverse and collaborative relationships, trust, and reciprocity

• Cultivates a learning community among food system advocates that is open to dialogue,research, education, change, and transformation.

• Strengthens relationships and partnerships within a community, and strengthens thepower of the community’s voice externally.

• Strengthens the connections between food and spiritual legacies within a culture suchthat the values associated with community food systems are reinforced.

4. Supports civic participation, political empowerment, and local leadership

• Respects the voice of and decisions made by community members that create positivechange in their local food system.

• Includes and improves access to local government agencies that can support the stabilityof local/regional food infrastructures according to the community’s interests.



-3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10

RATING SCALE:







VIB

RA

NT

FAR

MS A Food System that Promotes Healthy, Vibrant Farms*:

1. Supports local, sustainable family farms to thrive and be economically viable

• Builds capacity for farmers in sustainable farm practices that nourish the land andnatural resources.

• Develops policies that encourage success in small and mid-scale farming ventures.

• Provides support for small and mid-scale farmers to succeed and offer an economically viablealternative to the global agricultural system.

2. Protects and cares for farmers and farm-workers

• Develops and implements policies that protect farmers and farm worker rights.

• Ensures fair wages and safe working conditions that limit and eliminate exposures to hazardsfor all farmers and farm workers without discrimination.

• Supports farming as a profession that encourages personal sustainability and includes an abilityto retain and attract new farmers.

3. Honors stories of food and farm legacy through community voices

• Respects the historical context of the agricultural system and works to undo the effectsof racial enslavement.

• Listens to community members’ stories of their food and farm legacy so that communities canshape their future from lessons of the past.

4. Respects farm animals

• Ensures that farm animals have safe, healthy, and humane treatment throughout their life cycle.

• Provides animal habitats that support animal health and reduce disease.

• Ensures animal processing is safe and humane and considers the life and needsof the animal.


Negative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest ImpactNegative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest ImpactNegative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest ImpactNegative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest ImpactNegative Impact Neutral Some Impact Strong Impact Highest Impact

-3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10

RATING SCALE:







HEA

LTH

Y P

EOP

LE A Food System that Promotes Healthy People*:

1. Provides healthy food for all

• Ensures that all community members have access to fresh, nutritious, and culturally relevantfood for all people in communities, neighborhoods, schools, and institutions.

• Recognizes the cultural and spiritual relevance of food to health and well-being.

• Utilizes a broad range of public investments and tools (such as land use planning)to increase access to healthy food.

2. Ensures the health and wellbeing of all people, inclusive of race and class

• Deepens understanding of the interrelationships between food security, inequitiesacross race and class, and health outcomes.

• Decreases inequities across race and class that contribute to food insecurity andcompromise health.

3. Connects people and the food system, from field to fork

• Promotes a range of diverse connections between local food producers and consumers.

• Increases knowledge of the connections between food quality, healthy environments,and healthy people.

• Commits resources to teach people of all ages the skills and knowledge essential to foodproduction, preparation, nutrition, and enjoyment.

4. Connects people and land to promote health and wellness

• Provides safe settings and opportunities for people to directly experience the land inways that promote health and wellness.

• Promotes equity around access to land and resources needed for public access andpersonal food production.

• Unites and inspires neighbors to grow food and to share food and food cultures.



-3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10 -3 0 +3 +5 +10

RATING SCALE:






A Food System that Supports Sustainable Ecosystems*:


1. Sustains and grows a healthy environment

• Protects and improves soil, water, air, energy, and seed quality and quantity forlong-term needs.

• Eliminates pesticides, genetically modified organisms, and other contaminants thatdisrupt ecosystems and human health.

• Conserves and restores healthy wildlife habitats within agriculture and aquaculture.

• Recycles and utilizes waste as a resource.

2. Promotes an ecological ethic

• Values ecosystem elements and understands their function in producing foodand supporting life (foodshed).

• Understands and supports the diverse value and character of urban andrural ecosystems.

3. Enhances biodiversity

• Protects and improves biodiversity of soil, seeds, plants, animals, water, air, and food.

• Protects and improves biodiversity in human systems of agriculture and aquaculture.

4. Promotes agricultural and food distribution practices that mitigateclimate change

• Reduces reliance on fossil fuels and utilizes renewable energy sources in foodproduction and distribution.

• Utilizes agricultural practices that build the carbon sequestering properties of healthy soil.

• Provides community opportunities to understand and make informed decisions aboutclimate change and other environmental issues related to agriculture.

• Promotes policy changes to mitigate agricultural factors contributing to climate change.

SUST

AIN

AB

LE E

CO

SYST

EMS



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RATING SCALE:






A Food System that Promotes Thriving Local Economies*:


THR

IVIN

G L

OC

AL

ECO

NO

MIE

S

1. Creates local jobs and builds long-term economic vitality within thefood system

• Invests, encourages, and promotes community based enterprise development.

• Promotes economic support structures for the next generation of producers.

• Promotes business incubator programs for community members, youth, and food-insecure individuals that develop skills and cultivate ownership.

• Prioritizes hiring of local community members for farm and food system jobs.

2. Builds local wealth

• Promotes local and regional agricultural businesses that are sustainable and support ahealthy food system.

• Ensures that decisions about local economies are directed by members of the community.

• Builds community economic literacy to sustain long-term economic sustainability.

3. Promotes sustainable development while strengthening local food systems

• Promotes local and regional sustainably grown or harvested agricultural products withinthe food system, and promotes local businesses to distribute and promote these.

• Promotes green building and energy conserving practices on farms and in facilitiesrelated to food processing or distribution (be that processing plants, supermarkets,food banks).

• Supports active relationships between conservation and working lands.

4.Includes infrastructure that supports community and environmental health

• Includes diversified and sustainable farm-based businesses with connection to theirhistory and community.

• Includes processing and distribution facilities that are efficient, ecologically sound, safe,culturally relevant, and locally run.

• Develops new enterprises and products that respect ecological diversity throughaccounting for how a product is made, how it may be used, by whom, and the alternativeuses of the product or space over many users and time.



-3 0 +3 +5 +10-3 0 +3 +5 +10-3 0 +3 +5 +10-3 0 +3 +5 +10-3 0 +3 +5 +10

RATING SCALE:






Community Food Security –a condition in which allcommunity residents obtain asafe, culturally appropriate,nutritionally sound dietthrough an economically andenvironmentally sustainablefood system that promotescommunity self-reliance andsocial justice. (Based on adefinition by Mike Hammand Anne Bellows.)

Community Food Systems –The interdependent parts ofthe system that provide food toa community in a way that issustainable and nourishes allpeople within that community.This includes the growing,harvesting, storing, transport-ing, processing, distribution,and consumption of food.

Dialogue – a form ofcommunicating thatencourages new ways ofthinking and working together.It includes being open,listening to others forunderstanding, speakinghonestly, and suspendingjudgment. Dialogue is oftenpracticed in a group circlewhere individuals take turnssharing. This type of dialoguetypically begins with a periodof no cross-talk, where eachperson is given full attentionand listening before a

discussion begins. For detailson how to implement thisprocess, refer to A BriefOrientation to Dialogue, foundin the Learning Resourcespage of the Center for WholeCommunities’ website,www.wholecommunities.org.

Fields – In Whole Measures forCommunity Food Systems,“fields” are the six sets ofvalue-based practices thatcontribute to whole communi-ties through community foodsystem development. The sixfields comprise Justice andFairness; Strong Communities;Vibrant Farms; Healthy Peo-ple; Sustainable Ecosystems;and, Thriving Local Economies.

Food Sovereignty – the rightof peoples, communities, andcountries to define their ownagricultural, labor, fishing,food, and land policies thatare ecologically, socially,economically, and culturallyappropriate to their uniquecircumstances. It includes thetrue right to food and toproduce food, which meansthat all people have the rightto safe, nutritious, andculturally appropriate food,and to food-producingresources and the ability tosustain themselves and theirsocieties. – Food Sovereignty:

A Right For All, PoliticalStatement of the NGO/CSOForum for Food Sovereignty, Rome, June 2002

Foodshed – coined bypermaculturist Arthur Getz inthe article Urban Foodsheds, theterm refers to the flow of foodfrom its source to the endconsumer. This is similar to theconcept of a watershed whichdescribes the point of origin ofwater through the systems inplace to capture the flow(Kloppenburg, Hendricksonand Stevenson, 1996, 33).

Healthy – indicates character-istics that contribute to qualityof life from a holisticperspective. Healthy foodmakes a significant contribu-tion to a nourishing diet anddoes not cause diet-relateddisease under normalcircumstances. Dimensions ofhealthy foods are their intrinsicproperties (such as beingwhole and minimallyprocessed) and safety, which isaffected by their journeythrough the food system andhow they are handled at eachstage. Used generally, healthindicates characteristics thatcontribute to the quality to life.(Healthy food definition takenfrom Charting Growth To GoodFood, by Molly Anderson.)

Glossary


Outcomes – the changes inthe wellbeing of individualsthat can be attributed to aparticular project, program,or policy, or that a programhopes to achieve over time.They indicate a measurablechange in participantknowledge, attitudes, orbehaviors. For each practice ineach field of Whole MeasuresCFS, a set of sample desiredoutcomes are included asbulleted items. These sampleoutcomes represent thehighest impact toward whicha project might work. Projectsare encouraged to modify thelanguage of these outcomes tofit the unique circumstances intheir projects and community.For the purposes of thisdocument, “impact” and“outcome” are usedinterchangeably.

Outputs – the direct productsor quantification of programactivities. They include, forexample: the pounds ofproduced grown, the numberof technical assistance hours,the number of youth trained.

Practices – the core expres-sions of what it means tocreate a whole communitythrough community foodsystem development.Practices in Whole Measures

for Community Food Systems aregrouped according to fields ofsimilar ideas. There are threeor four practices for each fieldand these practices are listed inthe grey high-lighted areas ofeach rubric.

Rubric – a scoring tool thatlists the criteria for a piece ofwork or “what counts”.(Definition from Heidi Good-rich at rubistar.4teachers.org.)For this document, the rubricsare tables that include eachfield of practices and theirrelated outcomes and ratings.

Sustainable – as it applies tofood, sustainable means thatsocieties pass on to futuregenerations all the elementsrequired to provide healthyfood on a regular basis:healthy and diverse environ-ments (soil, water, air, andhabitats); healthy, diverse, andfreely reproducing seeds,crops, and livestock; and thevalues, creativity, knowledge,skills, and local institutionsthat enable societies to adapteffectively to environmentaland social changes. (Takenfrom the World Hunger Year’sFood Security Learning Centerat www.whyhunger.org.)


A. Facilitation DiscussionGuide: Process andProduct

B. Values Discussion Guide

C. Defining IntendedOutcomes DiscussionGuide

D. Evaluation DiscussionGuide

E. Debrief Discussion Guide

This guide provides a helpful set of principles for use infacilitating the Whole Measures for Community FoodSystems process.

Used at the beginning of a project, this guide will help anevaluation team clarify its scope and purpose.

Used at the beginning of a project, this guide will lead anevaluation team through personalizing Whole Measures forCommunity Food Systems to fit each particular situation. In doingso, the evaluation team has the opportunity to explore how thevalues underlying their organizational culture are reflected (ornot) in the fields of Whole Measures CFS. They will also take thetime to define what specific outcomes they hope to achievethrough this project.

Used at the time of evaluation (either mid-way or at the endof a project), this guide provides a process for working togetherto rate and describe the outcomes of a project to date.

Used after the evaluation results have been compiled, this guideprovides questions to help the evaluation team reflect on theirwork together and determine next steps for project work.

The following five discussion guides can help provide a starting point for organizations inworking with Whole Measures for Community Food Systems. Each guide proposes a process,including a set of discussion questions, which can help facilitate the evaluation team’s work.

EVALUATION TEAM DISCUSSION GUIDES

Keen and compassionate facilitation are important to any group discussion or dialogue. Theprocess guidelines outlined on page 33 (Process and Product) provide a simple set of practicesthat support effective facilitation.

Additionally, groups may want to use the “dialogue” form of communication practiced at theCenter for Whole Communities (www.wholecommunities.org) and described in a downloadabledocument, A Brief Orientation to Dialogue, in the Learning Resources section of their website.


FACILITATION DISCUSSION GUIDE:PROCESS AND PRODUCT

A.

Measurement and assessment processes should empower participants and contribute to thepositive outcomes sought (i.e. not just measuring justice and fairness, but actually buildingthem through the use of the tool). As with any planning or evaluation tool, how this tool isused can enhance the relationships and learning among all involved, or not. The followingprinciples emerged out of development of this tool and provide a guide for individualsfacilitating the Whole Measures CFS process.

Though justice and fairness are identified as one of the core fields ofpractice, it is the authors’ intent that these values are central to allaspects of community food system work. Expressing these values isintegral to every practice in this tool as well as to the way the tool isimplemented and dialogue is utilized.

Ensuring skillful and compassionate facilitation will enhance the processand help create a space for open exploration. The schedule and locationof meetings, the facilitation of who has an opportunity to speak, and theprocess of decision-making are all examples of a process that enhancesparticipation and deepens the impacts achieved.

Taking care to include openness to new ideas and multiple perspectives,listening for understanding, speaking honestly, and suspendingjudgment all contribute new ways of thinking and working together. It iscritical that each person has an opportunity to share his or her story andperspective and to listen openly to the story of others and of the land.

The tools and processes used are intended to help participants gain abetter understanding of the relationships between the parts and thewhole. This includes the relationships among activities and programs,the organizational mission, and the larger vision held for shared cultureand society as they connect to the relationships between the health of theland and the health of the people.

Community change will be sustained more effectively when people areinspired. Modeling and making visible positive action are usually moreeffective than prescribing or demanding positive action.

Assessment processes can be people-focused, accessible, and democratic.The authors’ hope for Whole Measures CFS is that its use promotes thefullest and most diverse participation possible through offering differentmeans or pathways for people to engage in the process.


Pay attentionto the process

Dialogue

Relationshipsare primary

Inspire action,don’t demand it

Respect and honorthe capacities and

assets of all people


VALUES DISCUSSION GUIDE

This guide refers to Steps 1-2 in the How to Use Whole Measures CFS section starting on page 9.

Set Up:Plan to meet for around two to three hours near the beginning of project implementation. It is helpfulto have a quiet and pleasant area with few distractions. Sit around a table where participants can seeeach other.

B.

• What are the goals of our work together as anevaluation team?

• Do we have a representative group of individuals to dothis work? If not, whom do we need to invite to participatein the Evaluation Team?

• Do we have the resources and information needed toaccomplish our goals?

• What is our timeline?

• How do the six core value fields of Whole Measures CFSresonate with our organizational values? (They include:Justice and Fairness, Strong Communities, Vibrant Farms,Healthy People, Sustainable Ecosystems, and ThrivingLocal Economies.)

• Are there any additional fields that seem critical to includein the evaluation process in order to capture a picture ofhow this work contributes to whole communities?

• Are there any fields that seem out of the scope of ourcurrent work or could be articulated differently to reflectmore of our organizational culture? If yes, what, ifanything, does this say about the nature of our work toimpact whole communities?

• Will we use the sample outcomes listed in each rubric,develop our own, or utilize some combination of the two?

• Will we use the rating scale, and if so, what values will wegive each rating?

• Does the Evaluation Team have decision-making authorityor will we make recommendations to staff and Boardfor approval?

• What type of evaluation report will we develop and howwill it be distributed?

1. Decide on the purposeand focus of the eval-uation. The followingquestions can help youclarify the EvaluationTeam’s purpose andfocus:

2. Take ownership for thefields of practice. EachEvaluation Team membershould read WholeMeasures CFS before themeeting and reflect onthe six core fields and thefollowing questions:

3. Decide on the processand product of theevaluation.


DEFINING INTENDED OUTCOMES DISCUSSION GUIDE

This guide refers to Step 3 in the How to Use Whole Measures CFS section, starting on page 10.

Set Up:Schedule a series of meetings near the beginning of the project, allowing for one to twohours for each of the six fields of practice. It is helpful to have a quiet and pleasant area withfew distractions. Sit around a table where participants can see each other.

C.

1. Each committee membershould review thepractices and suggestedoutcomes for whicheverfield(s) you are discussingthat day.

2. Spend time reviewing thesuggested outcomes foreach practice.

3. After this initial review, goover each practice againdiscussing your variousperspectives. Think of thefollowing questions:

4. After the team has comeagreement on desiredoutcomes, discuss actionsteps to move you towarddesired goals. Think of thefollowing questions:

• Write out two to three specific outcomes for each of thepractices that you hope to achieve with this project. Theoutcomes can be taken directly from the text provided,modified, or created newly. They should reflect yourhighest aspirations for the project’s impact.

• On this first round, limit the discussion to clarifyingquestions. Give each person a minute or two to shareand briefly explain their answers. You may want to usea flip chart with key words to capture the differentimpacts people selected.

• What is similar about our responses?• Where are areas where there are differing perspectives

on the outcome of our work?• Can we come to agreement on what our desired

outcome for each practice might look like? (Work tocapture these descriptions on a flip chart or through anote taker.)

• Have we captured all of the outcomes we hope toachieve?

• How do the fields and practices overlap or complementeach other?

• Will we be able to measure how well we are doing atachieving these outcomes?


EVALUATION DISCUSSION GUIDE

This guide refers to Steps 4-5 in the How to Use Whole Measures CFS section starting on page 11.

Set Up:Schedule a series of meetings that take place mid-way or at the end of a project, allowing for oneto two hours for each of the six fields of practice. It is helpful to have a quiet and pleasant areawith few distractions. Sit around a table where participants can see each other.

D.

1. Prior to the meetings,evaluation team membersshould review the staffreports and evaluation dataresults on project activities.Then, reflecting on thiswork and the desiredoutcomes defined at thebeginning of the project:

2. During the meeting, spendtime reviewing eachperson’s responses to eachof the outcomes. Work onone field at a time givingattention to each practicein that field individually.

3. After this initial review, goover each rubric againdiscussing your variousperspectives. Think of thefollowing:

4. After the team has come tosome agreement on currentimpacts, discuss the overalleffect of the project.

• Individually rate each of the outcomes for each practicelisted according to the degree of impact you feel theproject has achieved. Think honestly about how the workhas affected or implemented this desired outcome.Include notes explaining your selection.

• Based on your individual ratings for each outcome,select an overall rating for the practice. This rating doesnot need to be a strict average and can be either numericor narrative.

• On this first round, limit the discussion to clarifyingquestions.

• Give each person a minute or two to share and brieflyexplain their answers.

• Team members may want to take notes on the ratings oftheir peers, capturing key words or themes that arise.

• What is similar about our responses?• What areas have differing perspectives on the impact of

our work?• Can we come to agreement on the degree of impact of this

project for each of the outcomes listed?• Record these ratings in a clean version of the rubrics and

include significant areas of discussion in the notes.

• Which current activities are moving us most clearlytoward our intended outcomes? Can we continue or buildon those?

• What isn’t working? How can we change those activities?• What action steps can we take with our current resources

and timelines?• What actions steps could we take with additional resources?


DEBRIEFING DISCUSSION GUIDE

This guide refers to Steps 6 and beyond in How to Use Whole Measures CFS section startingon page 13.

E.

1. Action Planning – Creatingan action plan will ensurethat an organizationresponds fully to theevaluation.

2. Process reflection - It maybe helpful to spend sometime as an evaluation teamdebriefing on how theprocess of using WholeMeasures CFS went.Following are some helpfulquestions that teammembers could explore:

• What changes will be made in our project ororganization? Who is responsible for these changesand what is the timeline for implementation?

• Are there processes in place to support and ensurethat changes will be made in response to evaluationinformation and lessons learned?

• Do we have adequate resources to implementthese changes?

• What did you like about using Whole MeasuresCFS to conduct an evaluation of (or plan for)your project?

• What was difficult or confusing about it?• What, if any, changes could be made in this

process to make using the tool more effective?• Are there additional ways you can envision

using the Whole Measures CFS tool in our projector community?

• How well do the values-based practice rubric fields(and their descriptors) relate to the community foodsystems work we are doing? How is that importantor not?

• Would you like to continue using this process forevaluating our projects?

Set Up:After the evaluation is completed and the results are summarized and distributed, it is helpful tospend time as a team reflecting both on follow up actions needed and the Whole Measures CFSevaluation process in general.


A Brief HistoryIn 2001, leaders at the Trust for Public Land(TPL) initiated an exploration of the corevalues and benefits that TPL staff believedtheir conservation work, at its best, mightachieve. By 2003, these articulated values andbenefits had been reviewed, modified andsharpened by additional social scientists,biologists, urban planners, writers, and landconservationists, and combined into a rubrictemplate suggested by David Grant of theGeraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Building upon this foundation, the Centerfor Whole Communities (CWC) furtherdeveloped the tool in an effort to evolve it foruse in a wide spectrum of efforts, from landconservation to urban ecology to social justiceto community-building. Toward this goal,CWC brought together leaders from diverseorganizations and movements – includingcommunity food security – in dialoguearound how to improve the design and use ofWhole Measures. Through this process,representatives from the Community FoodSecurity Coalition (CFSC) embraced thepotential value in adapting Whole Measuresto more directly focus on the community foodsecurity, values, activities, and outcomes.

In 2008, CFSC convened the CFS WholeMeasures Working Group – eight communityfood security practitioners with diversebackgrounds and experiences. (For a list ofWorking Group members and participatingstaff from CFSC, CPREP, and CWC please goto page 4.) Over the course of 15 months and

with assistance from the CFSC staff andconsultants from the Center for PopularResearch, Education and Policy, WorkingGroup members: (a) reviewed the existingformat and language of Whole Measures, (b)articulated a set of community food securityprinciples that would inform the subsequentrevision of Whole Measures, (c) developedand refined new values, outcomes, andlanguage for the community food systemversion of Whole Measures, and (d) advisedon the final revisions to this document. Athorough review process collected inputfrom over 50 organizations, including shortcourse participants, in-depth reviewers, ateam of pilot testers, and others interested inthe document.

As it has throughout its brief history, CFSChopes that the Whole Measures CFS tool willcontinue to evolve as community foodpractitioners use and adapt the tool withindifferent settings and for different purposes.Just as this tool promotes dialogue withincommunities and organizations around whatmatters and what should be counted, so too isthe evolution of the tool itself a dialogueacross time, people, and places. Building uponand acknowledging the work that has comebefore in creating Whole Measures, theWorking Group has added its voice to thisongoing dialogue. Likewise, we look forwardto hearing additional voices added to theWhole Measures dialogue and the continuingevolution of the tool.


Susan CarraraDarcel Eddins

Frieda NashMoses Simuel

Acknowledgements

Short Course Participants:Jim HannaKeecha HarrisKathy HopperGretchen HuntBrandi Jessemy WhitneyAna JoanesLindsey JonesHugh JosephAndrew Kang BartlettMaureen KellyHannah LaurisonKatherine LeeJessi LyonsDavid MannStacy McCormack Grillo

Jeff MetoxenJessica MewsMaria MeyerRobin NealHarper NelsonMolly NicholieChris PatersonCharlotte SimonAndrew SmileyKarl SuttonLydia VillanuevaHeather WootenNella YoungJan Zientek

Jeanette Abi-NaderAdrian AysonVinnie BevivinoBilen BerhanuAna CatesRonda ClarkDavid CoffmanCheryl DanleyDarcel EddinsAndrea FerichAmy GilroySusan GroveMarilyn GuidryGita Gulati-ParteeDeb Habib

Reviewers:Ken Meter, Crossroads Resource CenterNella YoungDerek Christianson, Brix Bounty FarmKyril Calsoyas, Developing Innovations in Navajo Education, Inc.

Pilot Testers:Bountiful Cities Project: Shiloh Community Association Garden Committee:Georgia AllenNorma Baynes

Funder:Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program of theCooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA.

Hannah Burton-Laurison, Planning for Healthy Places, Public Health Law & PolicyDarcy Freedman, University of South CarolinaKai Siedenburg, Community Food Security Coalition

Thank you to the following individuals and organizations for their contributionsto Whole Measures for Community Food Systems.


Whole Measures CFS Fields and PracticesJustice and Fairness• Provides food for all• Reveals, challenges, and dismantles injustice in the food system• Creates just food system structures and cares for food system workers• Ensures that public institutions and local businesses support a just

community food system

STRONG COMMUNITIES

• Improves equity and responds to community food needs• Contributes to healthy neighborhoods• Builds diverse and collaborative relationships, trust, and reciprocity• Supports civic participation, political empowerment, and

local leadership

VIBRANT FARMS

• Supports local, sustainable family farms to thrive and beeconomically viable

• Protects and cares for farmers and farm-workers• Honors stories of food and farm legacy through community voices• Respects farm animals

HEALTHY PEOPLE

• Provides healthy food for all• Ensures the health and well-being of all people, inclusive of race and class• Connects people and the food system, from field to fork• Connects people and land to promote health and wellness

SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

• Sustains and grows a healthy environment• Promotes an ecological ethic• Enhances biodiversity• Promotes agricultural and food distribution practices that mitigate

climate change

THRIVING LOCAL ECONOMIES

• Creates local jobs and builds long-term economic vitality within thefood system

• Builds local wealth• Promotes sustainable development while strengthening local

food systems• Includes infrastructure that supports community and environmental health

whole measures for community food systems · community food security coalition 5 whole measures...

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