Download your own CARAT tool!

CARAT is an open-access, peer-reviewed tool to guide a highly participatory assessment of resilience of a local food system.

The tool is designed to help us better understand the resources within our food system via 101 indicators to determine possible next steps to increase agricultural resilience and food security. These indicators revolve around seven core themes that address the complex nature of resiliency.

The CARAT tool can be used to identify and facilitate discussion with a wide range of subject matter contributors about current policies, programs and practices – specific to each indicator – that exist within our community.

A CARAT audit can result in a baseline report that can be shared with the local public upon completion. The aim is to create a framework from which you may then identify priorities & action steps for future investment and metrics to measure improvements.

Use the big green button to download your own CARAT tool. Here’s what to do:

1. The CARAT tool is a free Google Spreadsheet.
2. The link we are providing is to a master of the spreadsheet that you can’t edit.
3. Open the link, then go to File > Make a Copy.  This will give you your own copy to work with.
4. We recommend renaming your copy by clicking the title at the top left, so you don’t confuse your copy with the master.
5. Use the CARAT Tool to get your own community’s impact metric analysis.
6. We are also providing a link to the folder where the master file lives, along with supporting documentation to help you use the CARAT tool in your community.