COUNCIL PASSES LOCAL FOOD ACTION INITIATIVE

COUNCIL PASSES LOCAL FOOD ACTION INITIATIVE
Legislation will support food banks, help aid farmers’ markets, and expand community gardens

Since April of this year Seattle City Council passed the Local Food Action Initiative. The initiative hopes to expand resources for food banks; local farmers' markets; develop new solutions on how to deal with the problems in food cost for urban consumers by helping strengthen the connections between our rural and urban areas; plan for better management of our food system in case of emergencies and major disasters; and much more.
The city now has plans to develop the Food Action Plan which will identify policies, programs and opportunities to promote local food systems sustainability and security. Not only that but the city council begins its work on a Regional Food Policy Council that can bring the City and the County together in order to help develop policies that will contribute to these intial goals and ideas.
The president of the Council Richard Conlin, the initiative’s sponsor and chair of the Environment, Emergency Planning and Utilities Committee, said in an interview, “Access to food is one of the most fundamental needs of our community. This new initiative will bring together the work that is being done in the community and the City to create a framework for ensuring that Seattle residents have access to a healthy and sustainable food resources.”

Another member of the council named Tim Burgess also included that, “We made some changes suggested by citizens to clarify and strengthen the resolution, and made its intent clearer and more focused. I believe it is a reasonable effort by the city to plan for emergencies, continue our work toward greater sustainability, and strengthen locally-owned businesses.”

Council member Jan Drago noted that not only will i benifit those who are lookign for healthier food but also those in need, “This initiative will support food banks and meal programs by strengthening connections between our p-patch network and food banks to provide more fresh food for those who are hungry and in need and by helping the food banks to reduce their costs for managing food waste.”

I think it was a great success of Seattle, to not only acknowledge this wonderful resource we have accessible to us but to also note the amount of people who still go hungry everyday. I hope this is not just something that stays on paper, but something that is really included into our everyday lives.

---Nina Miller