Who We Are
My name is Sarah Germany. I am an East Oakland resident, chef, educator, and parent.
I moved to Oakland about 8 years ago (from Brooklyn, NY) with the notion that the entire East Bay had already been impacted by the food revolution. I was excited to bring my usable nutrition and blueprint for wellness curriculums into a community of like-minded wellness warriors.
As a chef, I was in awe of places how Chez Panisse's founder and owner’s message of food justice and sovereignty had rippled across the country, inspiring countless gardens and in-school food revolutions. Now, I live just 10 miles from the gourmet ghetto in Berkeley; but, with 1 grocery store per 93,000 residents in East Oakland, the neighborhood is called a "food desert" by the USDA. People born in and living in my neighborhood die 12 years sooner than our North Oakland and Berkeley neighbors.
Our Project
The Food Commonweal can help change this inequity. Food Commonweal comes from the heartfelt belief that “whole food” is a necessity; our mission is to reduce the mortality rate and redefine “fast food” in East Oakland, one meal at a time. We envision an East Oakland where anyone can walk to a sliding scale, intergenerational, multicultural, community meal. We intend to create a regular gathering space, like the coffee shops and food trucks in other neighborhoods.
We will partner with churches to use their commercial kitchens and offer healthy meals to the community. Meals will be open to all East Oakland residents, and will be a place to connect, build community, and get well, through food and a wellness component from professional acupuncturists, Pilate and yoga instructors, esthetician care and more.
We've already established bartering relationships for food and planter box upgrades with Acta Non Verba (www.anvfarm.org) and Planting Justice (www.plantingjustice.org) and are in the process of meeting with potential community partners. Working, together, with local farmers and growers; using under-utilized spaces like churches and community centers with operable kitchens; revitalizing dormant community garden spaces, we can supplement the cost of whole food meals. We, together, can improve the quality of life amongst East Oakland residents by reducing the growing rates of obesity, diabetes, and other nutrition-related health crises in our community. We, together, sharing, growing, cooking, creating, building and healing, can reduce the mortality rate in East Oakland. We, together, can make Wellness the new Black.
How You Can Help
PLEASE Donate and SHARE with 5 friends so we can make the Food Commonweal a reality!
In Community,
Chef Sarah