While the City will be putting together a long-range plan for local food through a series of three workshops that began on March 13, my office will continue to work with City Departments and regional partners on actions to implement the Local Food Action Initiative in 2012. Here is our list of planned activities:
- Support developing Food Web, an initiative to increase and sustain the capacity of the Puget Sound regional food system.
- Use the Seattle Farm Bill Principles as a tool to work with local, regional, and national partners to encourage local governments and others to support them and advocate for appropriate policy in the renewal of the Farm Bill.
- Convene community partners working on hunger issues to identify next steps to meet immediate needs. Continue efforts towards a long-range campaign to meet the long-range needs of underserved communities by improving healthy food access and participating in community building around the food system.
- Work with the Regional Food Policy Council to create an Action Agenda and launch a project to inform and engage elected officials in food issues.
- Coordinate with state agencies and organizations around the state to strengthen Washington State food policy work, and raise the salience of food issues for candidates for Governor.
- Work with the Seattle Human Rights Commission to develop policies and practices around the concept of food as a basic human right.
- Create a campaign to promote the health and nutrition of City employees, modeled after the successful work in the Department of Parks and Recreation.
- Update and begin implementation of the P-Patch Strategic Plan.
- Support further action steps to make City and other public lands available for food production.
- Develop and adopt Phase 2 of the land use code changes to encourage food production and urban agriculture.
- Convene organizations working to preserve and enhance farm land in King County, including County agencies, the Agriculture Commission, and the King Conservation District, to develop coordinated strategies.
- Develop additional opportunities for expanding economic activity, marketing, and jobs in the local food economy including exploring how best to support Puget Sound Fresh.
- Increase connections between the city and local and regional farmers and increase ties with small and mid-sized farmers in Eastern Washington.
- Work with food system stakeholders to increase small-scale regional distribution that supports small farms and farmers.
- Continue to strengthen urban agriculture including finding a home for the business directory of urban agriculture related businesses in Seattle and the urban agriculture business association.
- Develop additional strategies for preserving farmland to produce food for Seattle residents in partnership with entities such as the Pike Place Market.
- Adopt a Transfer of Development Rights program to protect farmland.
- Solicit community feedback, approve, and begin implementing a Food System Policy Plan. Work with the City food staff person to strengthen the City’s Interdepartmental Team on food and to identify and write grants and perform community outreach and policy development.
- Develop indicators of success in transforming the food system.
- Work with immigrants, refugees, and associated organizations to expand opportunities for market gardening and farming.
- Continue to work with and encourage community—led projects and the CPPW and CFG funded projects.
- Work with OEM and regional partners to strengthen the regional plan for food reserves for emergencies.
- Incorporate food system policies, goals, and implementation strategies in the Comprehensive Plan, revised Climate Action Plan, Neighborhood Plans, and Transportation planning.
- Secure adoption of healthy food guidelines for City vending machines.
- Consider how to take local food work to scale in transforming the local food system through developing the “Food Web” project.
- Work with the PSRC to develop an assessment tool for evaluating urban agriculture.
