Food Access LA

Background

In September 1997, Food Access LA, then called Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA), was founded as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization in Los Angles, California. ² Primarily, the organization organizes farmers’ markets in neighborhoods of Los Angeles, including Atwater Village, Crenshaw, Central Avenue, Echo Park, Hollywood, and the Martin Luther King Campus. However, the organization also operates several programs, which, in coordination with government agencies and grantmaking organizations, connect SEE-LA’s affiliated agricultural vendors with local lower-income individuals. ³

Programs and initiatives

Farmers markets coordinated by Food Access LA accept funds from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP). Additionally, five of the organization’s markets accept WIC fruit and vegetable checks. ^{4 5}

In 2004, the organization, then called Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, participated in a nation-wide promotional campaign to promote the use of the USDA’s Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) payment system, which allows participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (initialized as SNAP, though more commonly known as food stamps) to purchase applicable foodstuffs using program credit with a debit-style card. ^{6 4}

In 2010, with funding and logistical support from Roots of Change, a California-based nutrition-oriented think tank, the organization implemented the “Market Watch” program in their farmers’ markets. ⁷ Initially, the program provided shoppers using federal nutritional benefits with $2 in Market Match funds for every $5 spent per day, up to $10. However, later, in 2014, through a partnership with the Ecology Center and Hunger Action Los Angeles, two nutrition and environment-oriented organizations based in California, SEE-LA expanded its Market Match program with funding from First 5 Los Angeles, an independent agency of Los Angeles County, California, to match federal benefits spent by customers at SEE-LA organized markets dollar-for-dollar. ^{3 8 9} Notably, funding for this program is partially derived from a $3.7 million statewide USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives grant disbursed in April 2015. ⁴

In 2014, the organization received a 3-year USDA SNAP grant via the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention program to conduct and expand the latter’s Pompea Smith Good Cooking/ Buena Cocina Nutrition Education Program in the Southern Los Angeles area. Largely, the program provides nutritional education through classes and cooking demonstrations conducted during standard market hours. ⁴

In 2016, the group began a collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District which arranges for affiliated farmers to deliver interactive presentations to district students. ⁴

Partners

Institutional partners of Food Access LA include Bank of America, Barclays Bank, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, A.F. Gilmore Company, the California Association of Food Banks, the California Department of Social Services, the Wells Fargo Foundation, and the Hollywood chapter of the Salvation Army. Additionally, the SEE-LA website lists various local elected officials on its partners page, including the mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti. ¹⁰

People

Executive Director

Jennifer Grissom is the executive director for Food Access LA as of April 2024. ^{11 12}

Stephen Gutwillig was previously the executive director of Food Access LA, then titled Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (SEE-LA). Beforehand, Gutwillig was the deputy executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a left-leaning organization supporting decriminalization and legalization of drug use. He is also a member of the board of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, an advocacy organization that supports left-of-center criminal justice policy. ^{13 14}

Board of Directors

Danielle M. Forbes is the chair of Food Access LA’s Board of Directors. Additionally, Forbes is counsel for the Writers Guild of America West, a labor union for television and film screenwriters, and a founding member of Black Women for Wellness, a California-based advocacy organization that supports abortion and other social-liberal policy issues. ^{12 15}