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AG 2010 04 19
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AG 2010 04 19
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4/21/2010 8:50:26 AM
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Meeting Minutes
Doc Type
Agenda
Meeting Minutes - Date
4/14/2010
Board
Board of Commissioners
Meeting Type
Regular
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improving the quality of available food <br />Potential to affect national and state level policy debates <br />Potential to connect multiple sectors that wouldn't otherwise work together <br />Potential to bring local food policy into mainstream politics <br />Potential to boost local economies and combat poverty <br />All of these key potentials lead to one central idea -that Food Policy Councils have the potential to democratize the food <br />system. The failings of our current food system are largely suffered in neighborhoods and constituencies with little political <br />or economic voice. Food Policy Councils can amplify the voices of underserved communities that have traditionally had <br />limited access to power. The Detroit Food Policy Council for example, made addressing the underlying racial and economic <br />disparities in food access, retail ownership, food sector jobs and control over food- producing resources a cornerstone of <br />their policy platform -explicitly attacking structural racism inherent in the food system and creating space for greater <br />economic democracy and food justice. <br />Similarly, the power of food systems to boost local economies is overlooked. In one study, Ken Meter estimated a single <br />region in Northwest Wisconsin lost $1.13 billion a year in potential wealth through the food economy. l0 In assessing <br />the food economy of the Chesapeake Bay region, Meter found that a 15% increase in local food purchases would bring <br />in three times more dollars to farming communities than Federal subsidies currently bring to the region. A WorldWatch <br />Study estimated that if the greater Seattle area were to source just 20% of its food locally, it would inject an extra billion <br />dollars per year into the city's economy.ll To many, those "food dollars" represent an opportunity to capture more wealth <br />in the community. <br />As the power of Food Policy Councils at the local, county, and state levels builds, councils may be able to form a national <br />coalition to take on larger national and structural issues. <br />Discussion and Recommendations <br />Perhaps the most interesting result of this study is that there is no one recipe for a successful council. Across the country, <br />policies and activities that have been successful in, for example, New Mexico, may not have been tried in New York. Councils <br />cannot necessarily apply a specific formula from another locality. Food Policy Councils do best when they build off the <br />momentum of groups in their own communities, when they address issues for which the need for change has already been <br />locally identified, and when they come up with locally-based policies and programs. The strength of food policy councils <br />lies in their ability to be locally relevant. <br />This strength also presents a key challenge: while the Food Policy Council form is promising, the specific functions of the <br />council are not necessarily clearly defined, and change from case to case. Unless a specific strategic plan, evaluation model, <br />decision making model and a strong understanding of the local food system are in place, councils may have a promising <br />form, and still not function well. <br />While success stories are as diverse as the communities that create them, the challenges facing councils have been much <br />the same over a broad geographic and time scale. Challenges with funding and staff time, over-commitment, dependence <br />on a strong personality or political figure, and to a lesser degree, having a single issue focus, have been recurring themes <br />continent-wide. <br />There are several key recommendations that ntay help councils confront some of these challenges. When establishing a <br />Food Policy Council, it has been helpful to: <br />Food Policy Councils: Lessons Learned p ~h <br />P~6 F'~~ce ~~~t number 3 <br />
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