Blog
As the Oakland Food Policy Council is revving up its projects, mayors are mobilizing on a national level to discuss food policy on a larger scale, including increasing access to healthy food and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities!
During the United States’ Conferences of Mayors, from Jan 18th-20th, civic leaders of cities with populations over 30,000 members met to discuss immigration reform, energy independence, youth violence, and notably, food policy. Among the 244 attendees of the Washington D.C. conference were Ed Lee of San Francisco, and Jean Quan of Oakland. According to the meeting’s agenda:
“The Food Policy Task Force will focus on issues including reducing obesity,
increasing access to healthy affordable food in low-income communities, and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities. The task force will review issues and policy barriers to addressing food access, food security issues in urban areas including recommendations on increasing SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program) participation via recommendations on best policies and practices, 2012 Farm Bill, support for
farmer's markets, food desert mapping and healthy food retail.”
While the conclusions made from the conference are unknown to the general public, the very presence of a Food Policy Task Force at such a large scale event represents something bigger; the fact that reforming our country’s food policy is taking a higher priority in governmental agendas. This also manifested in the conference’s awarding of Garden and Green Space Awards to five cities, giving grants to cities for the creation of innovative public gardens and green spaces, and recognizing mayoral stewardship in the development of urban greenscapes. Among the winners was Baltimore, Maryland, of special interest to this blog because of the city’s recent efforts to address food justice. As a recent blog post describes, Baltimore has been developing initiatives to increase food access, including launching a Virtual Supermarket Program.
The award singled out Baltimore’s Upton Edible Garden, a mayoral initiative that focuses on transforming thirty-two vacant, city owned lots into community vegetable gardens that can serve as sites for food education and discussion.
San Francisco also received recognition for the Quesada Gardens Initiative (http://www.quesadagardens.org/), a project to create a public gathering space in underserved communities for people to engage in gardening education as well as food swapping, distribution, and vending.
As we approach this highly charged electoral year with both a presidential election and a new Farm Bill, the ties we establish between community and government are more important than ever. If we expect our local governments to be responsive to our collective calls for food sustainability and reform, why not expect this to resound on a national level? Wider recognition and support of local projects in food education and accessibility is important, but what we need is the conversation about what community projects can can be adopted and become policy for Oakland, for California, and for the whole US.
Mayor Quan, we’ll expect you at our next meeting!
As the Oakland Food Policy Council is revving up its projects, mayors are mobilizing on a national level to discuss food policy on a larger scale, including increasing access to healthy food and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities!
During the United States’ Conferences of Mayors, from Jan 18th-20th, civic leaders of cities with populations over 30,000 members met to discuss immigration reform, energy independence, youth violence, and notably, food policy. Among the 244 attendees of the Washington D.C. conference were Ed Lee of San Francisco, and Jean Quan of Oakland. According to the meeting’s agenda:
“The Food Policy Task Force will focus on issues including reducing obesity,
increasing access to healthy affordable food in low-income communities, and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities. The task force will review issues and policy barriers to addressing food access, food security issues in urban areas including recommendations on increasing SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program) participation via recommendations on best policies and practices, 2012 Farm Bill, support for
farmer's markets, food desert mapping and healthy food retail.”
While the conclusions made from the conference are unknown to the general public, the very presence of a Food Policy Task Force at such a large scale event represents something bigger; the fact that reforming our country’s food policy is taking a higher priority in governmental agendas. This also manifested in the conference’s awarding of Garden and Green Space Awards to five cities, giving grants to cities for the creation of innovative public gardens and green spaces, and recognizing mayoral stewardship in the development of urban greenscapes. Among the winners was Baltimore, Maryland, of special interest to this blog because of the city’s recent efforts to address food justice. As a recent blog post describes, Baltimore has been developing initiatives to increase food access, including launching a Virtual Supermarket Program.
The award singled out Baltimore’s Upton Edible Garden, a mayoral initiative that focuses on transforming thirty-two vacant, city owned lots into community vegetable gardens that can serve as sites for food education and discussion.
San Francisco also received recognition for the Quesada Gardens Initiative (http://www.quesadagardens.org/), a project to create a public gathering space in underserved communities for people to engage in gardening education as well as food swapping, distribution, and vending.
As we approach this highly charged electoral year with both a presidential election and a new Farm Bill, the ties we establish between community and government are more important than ever. If we expect our local governments to be responsive to our collective calls for food sustainability and reform, why not expect this to resound on a national level? Wider recognition and support of local projects in food education and accessibility is important, but what we need is the conversation about what community projects can can be adopted and become policy for Oakland, for California, and for the whole US.
Mayor Quan, we’ll expect you at our next meeting!
As the Oakland Food Policy Council is revving up its projects, mayors are mobilizing on a national level to discuss food policy on a larger scale, including increasing access to healthy food and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities!
During the United States’ Conferences of Mayors, from Jan 18th-20th, civic leaders of cities with populations over 30,000 members met to discuss immigration reform, energy independence, youth violence, and notably, food policy. Among the 244 attendees of the Washington D.C. conference were Ed Lee of San Francisco, and Jean Quan of Oakland. According to the meeting’s agenda:
“The Food Policy Task Force will focus on issues including reducing obesity,
increasing access to healthy affordable food in low-income communities, and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities. The task force will review issues and policy barriers to addressing food access, food security issues in urban areas including recommendations on increasing SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program) participation via recommendations on best policies and practices, 2012 Farm Bill, support for
farmer's markets, food desert mapping and healthy food retail.”
While the conclusions made from the conference are unknown to the general public, the very presence of a Food Policy Task Force at such a large scale event represents something bigger; the fact that reforming our country’s food policy is taking a higher priority in governmental agendas. This also manifested in the conference’s awarding of Garden and Green Space Awards to five cities, giving grants to cities for the creation of innovative public gardens and green spaces, and recognizing mayoral stewardship in the development of urban greenscapes. Among the winners was Baltimore, Maryland, of special interest to this blog because of the city’s recent efforts to address food justice. As a recent blog post describes, Baltimore has been developing initiatives to increase food access, including launching a Virtual Supermarket Program.
The award singled out Baltimore’s Upton Edible Garden, a mayoral initiative that focuses on transforming thirty-two vacant, city owned lots into community vegetable gardens that can serve as sites for food education and discussion.
San Francisco also received recognition for the Quesada Gardens Initiative (http://www.quesadagardens.org/), a project to create a public gathering space in underserved communities for people to engage in gardening education as well as food swapping, distribution, and vending.
As we approach this highly charged electoral year with both a presidential election and a new Farm Bill, the ties we establish between community and government are more important than ever. If we expect our local governments to be responsive to our collective calls for food sustainability and reform, why not expect this to resound on a national level? Wider recognition and support of local projects in food education and accessibility is important, but what we need is the conversation about what community projects can can be adopted and become policy for Oakland, for California, and for the whole US.
Mayor Quan, we’ll expect you at our next meeting!
As the Oakland Food Policy Council is revving up its projects, mayors are mobilizing on a national level to discuss food policy on a larger scale, including increasing access to healthy food and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities!
During the United States’ Conferences of Mayors, from Jan 18th-20th, civic leaders of cities with populations over 30,000 members met to discuss immigration reform, energy independence, youth violence, and notably, food policy. Among the 244 attendees of the Washington D.C. conference were Ed Lee of San Francisco, and Jean Quan of Oakland. According to the meeting’s agenda:
“The Food Policy Task Force will focus on issues including reducing obesity,
increasing access to healthy affordable food in low-income communities, and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities. The task force will review issues and policy barriers to addressing food access, food security issues in urban areas including recommendations on increasing SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program) participation via recommendations on best policies and practices, 2012 Farm Bill, support for
farmer's markets, food desert mapping and healthy food retail.”
While the conclusions made from the conference are unknown to the general public, the very presence of a Food Policy Task Force at such a large scale event represents something bigger; the fact that reforming our country’s food policy is taking a higher priority in governmental agendas. This also manifested in the conference’s awarding of Garden and Green Space Awards to five cities, giving grants to cities for the creation of innovative public gardens and green spaces, and recognizing mayoral stewardship in the development of urban greenscapes. Among the winners was Baltimore, Maryland, of special interest to this blog because of the city’s recent efforts to address food justice. As a recent blog post describes, Baltimore has been developing initiatives to increase food access, including launching a Virtual Supermarket Program.
The award singled out Baltimore’s Upton Edible Garden, a mayoral initiative that focuses on transforming thirty-two vacant, city owned lots into community vegetable gardens that can serve as sites for food education and discussion.
San Francisco also received recognition for the Quesada Gardens Initiative (http://www.quesadagardens.org/), a project to create a public gathering space in underserved communities for people to engage in gardening education as well as food swapping, distribution, and vending.
As we approach this highly charged electoral year with both a presidential election and a new Farm Bill, the ties we establish between community and government are more important than ever. If we expect our local governments to be responsive to our collective calls for food sustainability and reform, why not expect this to resound on a national level? Wider recognition and support of local projects in food education and accessibility is important, but what we need is the conversation about what community projects can can be adopted and become policy for Oakland, for California, and for the whole US.
Mayor Quan, we’ll expect you at our next meeting!
Many changes are under way for Oakland in 2012. Some of these changes include an updated urban agriculture ordinance that will enable small scale commercial growing and selling of food within the city. We can also look forward to a year of mobile food events to highlight our local food talent in an afforable and accesible way. This is all great and much needed. Yet, there are many opporuntnities still to progress our vibrant food economy to the next level. A recent article on Shareable.com featured a list of creative ways to think about that next step in geberating industry from these policy achievments. Check it out.
Also, consider this. In October of 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB361, the Benefits Corporation Act and SB201, the Flexible Purpose Corporation Act. The B Corp enables a legal structure with performance standards which:
- Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards;
- Meet higher legal accountability standards;
- Build business constituency for public policies that support sustainable business.
A Flexible Purpose Corporation permits companies to be formed with a merged for profit/nonprofit structure. This enables social entrepreneurs to seek funding for their corporations from both funding models- investments/loan and donation/grant. These new laws provide a solution to the probelm of director and officer liabilty for acting to advance anything other than shareholder interests as such entities will now be honoring their social policy and adhereing to the investment decisions of the shareholders.
The next challenge is to bravely pursue and support these new models of corporation.
