City Exchange ProjectMunicipal Policy Implementation and

Community Food Systems: Barriers, Innovations, and Solutions

What is the City Exchange Project?• The City Exchange Project idea sprung from a need to

be able to discuss issues and topics on food systems with other organizations across the US.

• Many times, the only way inter-city dialogue is created between staff/leaders of different community organizations is through conference networking.

• The City Exchange Project seeks to electronically convene leaders from across the country and engage them in relevant and useful conversations on pressing and pertinent food systems issues from the comfort of your own office.

Click above for CRFS website

Guiding Questions• How has municipal policy implementation, or lack

thereof, helped or hindered the development and maintenance of community food systems where you work?

• What challenges have you encountered in this work and what solutions and innovations have been used to navigate and/or change adverse policies?

• What kind of collaboration between city officials/departments and community organizations exists where you work? How has this helped shape the community food landscape there?

• What specific challenges or obstacles do you need support or ideas on?

Los Angeles Participants• Rachel Surls - Sustainable Food Systems

Advisor, Univ. of California Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County• Esther Park – Community Outreach

Coordinator, Los Angeles Food Policy Council

Rachel Surls Esther Park

UC-Cooperative ExtensionUrban Ag Policy Work

• Interviewed urban farmers around California about a number of issues, including policy-related barriers.

• Created an online resource portal which includes policy best practices.

• Developed guide to new CA state law AB551, which allows counties and cities to establish “Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones”

• Plan to develop policy briefs

Organizing Neighborhood Market Sector

• Generate pipeline of market makeover projects

• Ensuring sustainability of food retail projects

Capacity Building• Business and Leadership Development

Trainings• Resource Referrals & Partnerships• Peer Networking

Healthy Neighborhood Market Network

Goal: Build capacity of neighborhood markets to be successful healthy food retailers in under-served communities.

Market MakeoversProject Based Consulting

• Food Retail Expertise• Financing Opportunities • Community Outreach & Neighborhood Partnerships

Systems Level StrategiesHealthy Food Retail / Food Equity Working Group

• Practitioners share knowledge, skills, tools

• Advance Systems Solutions: Procurement, Distribution, Cooperative Purchasing, etc.

• Advance Policy Solutions

Healthy Food Retail / Food Equity

Madison Participants• Robert Pierce – Manager/Farmer – South

Side Farmer’s Market, Growing Power-Madison• Carrie Edgar - Department Head &

Community Food Systems Educator for Dane County Cooperative Extension.

Robert PiercePhoto by Jaclyn Nussbaum

Carrie Edgar

Resilience Research Center – Badger Rock School

• Through his leadership role in Growing Power-Madison, Robert partners with staff at the Resilience Research Center in South Madison to teach a new generation of students at Badger Rock Middle School about urban agriculture production methods and sustainability practices in action.

Program for Entrepreneurial and

Agricultural Training • Through the Program

for Entrepreneurial and Agricultural Training (PEAT), Robert and Growing Power-Milwaukee staff educate South Madison students on different production and marketing techniques and the students are then allowed to grow and sell their own produce at the South Side Farmers Market.

Carrie Edgar• Carrie Edgar is the Department Head

& Community Food Systems Educator for Dane County UW-Extension. Her work focuses on food systems and community capacity building. Her experience includes community development, grower education, food & farm entrepreneurship, food policy, and school & community garden development.

• Carrie serves as staff of the Dane County Food Council and is a member of the Madison Food Policy Council. Carrie started the Dane County Food Coalition to bring together food system organizations to develop a shared vision and work more collaboratively.

Madison Food Policy Council• As a member of the

Madison Food Policy Council, Carrie Edgar helps shape decisions on how the City of Madison addresses food systems related issues within the community spanning from community gardens to the emerging Madison Public Market Division concept to healthy food retail in under-served communities.

Click photo above for Madison Food Policy Council Goals and

Objectives

Dane County Food Council

• DCFC is a committee of the Dane County Board comprised of citizens and County Board Supervisors. Carrie created DCFC to encourage active collaboration to explore issues and develop recommendations to create an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable local food system for the Dane County region.

• There are 4 main action-based goals of DCFC• Develop food and agriculture policy

recommendations for Dane County • Advocate for food and agricultural policy that

supports our vision for the Dane County food system

• Promote public education and outreach on food and agriculture issues

• Collaborate with the Dane County Food Coalition, Madison Food Policy Council, Healthy Food For All Plan and other community groups in addressing food system and agriculture issues

Click above for DCFC Action

Plan

Chicago Participant• Daniel Block – Director, Fredrick Blum

Neighborhood Assistance Center

Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council

• As secretary of the CFPAC, Daniel and other board members facilitate the development of responsible policies that improve access for Chicago residents to culturally appropriate, nutritionally sound, and affordable food that is grown through environmentally sustainable practices.

Detroit Participants• Kibibi Blount-Dorn - Program Manager,

Detroit Food Policy Council• Myra Lee – Charter Member, Detroit Center

for Community Advancement; Masters of Public Policy Candidate, University of Michigan

Kibibi Blount-Dorn Myra Lee

Kibibi Blount-Dorn• Kibibi Blount-Dorn is currently the Coordinator

for the Detroit Food Policy Council. She has a B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from Michigan State University, and a Masters of Urban Planning from Wayne State University.

• She is a lifelong Detroit resident, and has been a community development advocate and community gardener since she was a teenager. She has previously worked with Detroit Summer, Garden Resource Program Collaborative, Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University, Highland Park Development Corporation, Eastern Market Corporation, and the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network.

Detroit Food Policy Council

• The creation of the Detroit Food Policy Council (DFPC) stemmed from a directive included in the Detroit Food Security Policy (DFSP) that the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network drafted.

• Detroit City Council members adopted and approved all the recommendations in the DFSP in 2008-2009 and the Detroit Food Policy Council had its first meeting in late 2009.

• One of the largest issues that DFPC and other community-based orgs and coalitions are working on is equitable access to city-owned land (about 60,000 parcels)

Click above for more info on DFPC

Click above for 2012 DFPC Public Land Sales

Report

Myra Lee• Myra Lee is a young social justice leader who

has been involved with the Detroit food movement for five years. As a charter member of the Detroit Center for Community Advancement, she is committed to the advancing effective social policy to address systemic issues of poverty, racial inequality and the gap between the private and public sector in leadership, investment and development in Detroit.

• Her current work is focused on revising and enforcing the Detroit Food Security Policy by establishing a community-based neighborhood food security strategy for each City Council District; assisting in the development of a city-wide Community Benefits Agreement Ordinance and participating in a collaborative effort in drafting a proposal to the Detroit Land Bank Authority to plan, implement and enforce a Community Land Trust Policy in order to ensure a guaranteed process to administer legitimate land rights and ownership for Detroit residents by the City of Detroit.

• She received her BS Degree in Horticulture with a specialization in Environmental Economics and Policy at Michigan State University; and is currently pursuing a MPP Degree at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Detroit Center for Community Advancement

• DCCA is the brainchild of a diverse coalition of Detroit community activists. It seeks to engage a diverse pool of young Detroiters to combat the most pressing issues facing young Detroiters.

• DCCA analyzes and strategizes on policy approaches that increase opportunities for Detroiters.

• One of the big issues that DCCA, and Myra, is involved with is the development of a Community Land Trust Policy via the Detroit Land Bank Authority. This policy will ensure a guaranteed and equitable process for Detroit residents who wish to acquire land.

Cedar Rapids Participants

• Karl Cassell – Executive Director, Horizons: A Family Service Alliance

• Katie Jones – Health Education Specialist, Linn Co. Public Health

• Sonia Kendrick – Executive Director/Founding Farmer, Feed Iowa First

Karl Cassell Katie Jones Sonia Kendrick

Karl Cassell• After graduating from Iowa State

University in 1999, Karl moved to the East Coast, where he met his wife, LaNisha.

• While living in Baltimore, Maryland, Karl served as an active member of the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs.

• Karl made his return to Cedar Rapids in 2004, when he became Executive Director of Jane Boyd Community House; where he remained for almost five years. Karl managed a $1M budget and participated in a $4M capital campaign.

• In 2006, he was selected for recognition as a young and emerging leader for “40 Under 40” by the Corridor Business Journal (CBJ).

• Prior to Horizons, Karl served as Executive Director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission for four years.

Horizons – A Family Service Alliance

• Since June 2013, Karl Cassell has been President & CEO of Horizons, A Family Service Alliance. Horizons runs the largest local Meals on Wheels program, serving over 400,000 meals annually.

• Horizons also provides services in the areas of Mental/Behavior Health Counseling, Consumer Credit Counseling, and Family Support Programs. The organization is currently determining its role around sustainability in health and nutrition for disadvantaged communities; understanding that food consumption for its clients and the community can contribute to fulfilling the mandate as a Blue Zone Community.

Katie Jones• Katie Jones is a Health Education Specialist at Linn

County Public Health in Cedar Rapids. In her position, she is involved with many different coalitions, such as the Linn County Food Systems Council, and manages the county’s Community Transformation Grant, which includes activities to improve the food system.

• She received her Master of Public Health in Community and Behavioral Health from the University of Iowa College of Public Health in May 2012.

Click above for Linn Co Food Systems Assessment Snapshot

Linn Co Public Health and Linn Co Food Systems

Council• Public Health - Linn County Public Health (LCPH) serves

as the local health department. LCPH’s mission is “To prevent disease and injuries, promote healthy living, protect the environment and ensure public health preparedness.” Linn County is the second most populous county in Iowa. LCPH is located in Cedar Rapids, which is the second most populous city in Iowa.

• Food Systems Council - The Linn County Food Systems Council was created by the Linn County Board of Supervisors in March 2012. Recently, the Council completed a comprehensive food system assessment with assistance through Linn County’s Community Transformation Grant.

• Cedar Rapids Blue Zones Project - This project has different Community Policy subcommittees, which work on achieving certain city-level policy and environment goals related to healthy eating, like supporting urban agriculture.

Sonia Kendrick• Sonia Kendrick is the

founding farmer, a combat veteran, agronomist, and working towards a masters degree in sustainable food systems but mainly just an informed and concerned mother of two amazing children.

• “Whomever controls our food controls us and our democratic right to rule ourselves is rooted in our ability to feed ourselves.” Sonia Kendrick

Feed Iowa First• Mission: To confront food insecurity today and

tomorrow by growing food and farmers.• Feed Iowa First has 12 farms in Linn Co. Iowa. We grow on

underutilized land around churches and business. We also grow on 16 acres of donated farmland. We do not have total yield numbers yet but it is well over 20,000 lbs of vegetables. We currently only have one beginning farmer but we have worked this season with seven other beginning farmers. All of the produce that we grow is donated to food pantries and shelters as well as meals on wheels. We do not charge for the food that we donate.

• Our current project is building a walipini fish farm next to a low income school. We are planning to take the waste from the school and feed it to black soldier flies then feed the black soldier flies to the fish and have the fish connected to a hydroponic system that will allow us to grow lettuce for the school to have a salad bar.

• Our goal is to get 500 acres of underutilized land turned into vegetable production that would provide the almost 26,000 food insecure in our county with the bare minimum of vegetables a day. We believe that the next generation of farmers are in the city and need to be brought out of the city as a social effort in order to ensure that we are fed into the future. We are also advocates for teaching all children how to feed themselves – A skill that should be as fundamental as writing their names.

Milwaukee Participants• Marcia Caton-Campbell – Executive Director,

Center for Resilient Cities• Emily Bernstein – Information and Research

Data Associate, School Food Focus

Marcia Caton-Campbell

Emily Bernstein

Marcia Caton-Campbell• Marcia Caton Campbell, MCRP, PhD, is the Executive

Director of the Center for Resilient Cities. In February 2011, Marcia published Urban Agriculture: Growing Healthy, Sustainable Communities, Planning Advisory Service Report No. 563, coauthored with Kimberly Hodgson and Martin Bailkey (Chicago, IL: American Planning Association).

• She has previously served on the boards of directors of Growing Power, the Community Food Security Coalition, the Milwaukee Environmental Consortium, the Madison Area Community Land Trust, and the Friends of Troy Gardens (now Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens in Madison, WI). Marcia is also the Center for Resilient Cities organizational representative to the Milwaukee Food Council.

• Prior to joining the Center for Resilient Cities in 2006, Marcia was a faculty member in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and affiliate faculty at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. There, her research and teaching focused on consensus building and community-based planning with diverse publics and on increasing inner-city residents’ access to healthy, nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food through community food systems planning.

Center for Resilient Cities• A 501c3 not-for-profit organization founded in

1996 with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, the Center for Resilient Cities builds robust and thriving urban communities that are healthy, just, economically viable and environmentally sound.

• The CRC has been and currently is involved with many community-based food system projects. Their role as experts in a variety of fields offers support, guidance, and technical assistance, which assists in the creation of communities that are good for people and good for the environment.

• CRC is involved with the Milwaukee Food Council and is working on analyzing, recommending, and building on some of the food systems findings from the City of Milwaukee’s “ReFresh Milwaukee” report.

Click above for ReFresh

Milwaukee Food Systems

Report

Emily Bernstein• Emily collects, manages, and analyzes the

procurement data for the Upper Midwest Regional Learning Lab and the National Procurement Initiative. She is passionate about food justice and how it intersects with health, equity, and the environment.

• Prior to joining FOCUS, Emily worked in farming systems, ecology, and alternative crops research at North Carolina State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as on farms and with community food system non-profits.

• She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a MS in Agronomy and a BS in International Agriculture and Natural Resources/Horticulture. Emily is based in Milwaukee.

• Emily is working with the Center for Resilient Cities on an audit tool to analyze policy effects on food systems