Food Policy Council (FPC) Meeting on Mon, November 17, 2014 - 7:00 PM

Meeting Information

Administrative items – 7:00 PM.
1. Determine quorum of members, agenda approval.
2. Approval of October meeting minutes.
3. NEW:Discussion with Habitat for Humanity Director re: 815 Oak St. Common Ground site.
4. Kansas Health Foundation Implementation Grant - $40,000 available through 2015.
5. USDA Growing Food Connections:http://growingfoodconnections.org/
6. Report-outs from recent conferences:
  1. KRC Annual Conference – Jen Humphrey.
  2. Growing Power Conference – Jill Elmers and Emily Hampton.
Northeast Kansas Food Hub Feasibility Study next steps – 7:15 PM(Marlin Bates)
1. Update on composition of Core Team, next steps.
2. Discussion of FPC involvement going forward.
Roundtable of updates on various FPC-related initiatives – 7:30 PM.
1. Lawrence Farmers Market long-term planning (Jen Humphrey).
2. Statewide Local Food and Farm Task Force (Ashley Jones-Wisener).
3. Downtown grocery progress (Eileen Horn).
4. Food System Coordinator hiring process (Eileen Horn).
5. Lawrence Chefs and Farmers Alliance (Rick Martin).
6. Sunrise Project (Emily Hampton).
7. Market Match 2014 end-of-year reports and 2015 funding (Eileen Horn).
8. Common Ground Annual Report and 2015 plans (Tresa Carter).
9. CDC Partners in Community Health & LiveWell Lawrence (Chris Tilden).
10. KRC’s new resource “Feeding Kansas” – a statewide farm and food system assessment, & action plan.
Subcommittee progress reports – 8:20 PM
- City
- County
- Community
- State/Fed
Public comments – 8:40 PM
FPC member updates – 8:50 PM
Adjourn full council meeting – 9:00 PMBottom of Form

FPC Attendees: Emily Hampton, Boog Highberger, Ashley Jones-Wisener, Marlin Bates, Rick Martin, Daniel Poull, Elizabeth Stewart, Chris Tilden, Jason Hering, Jen Humphrey, Carol Gilmore, Teresa Flory, Jill Elmers, Pattie Johnston, Diane Fishburn, Jan Hornberger, Brenna Wulfkuhle

Absent: Kim Criner, Rita York-Henneke, Bob Lominska, Brady Pollington, Greg Shipe, Paula Murrish

Staff members: Eileen Horn, Amy Miller, Tresa Carter

Guests: Nolan Kappelman, Lori Harse

Administrative items – 7:00 PM.
1. Determine quorum of members, agenda approval. With 16 members in attendance a quorum was reached.
2. Approval of October meeting minutes. Motion and second to approve minutes as written (Wulfkuhle, Tilden). Motion approved unanimously.
3. Discussion with Habitat for Humanity Director re: 815 Oak St. Common Ground site.
  
  Lori Harse, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity, presented their proposal to request donation of a portion of the 815 Oak Common Ground site (7200 sq. feet in the SW corner of the lot) for construction of a single family home. The proposal includes a potential partnership with Habitat for Humanity to retain the front part of the lot (facing Oak St.) as a community garden with urban agriculture still available in the northern ½ of the lot. Habitat volunteers would be willing to collaborate on the construction of a fence and shed for the site to help improve the aesthetics of the site and engage the neighborhood in food production.
  
  FPC members thought this would be a good cooperation with Habitat, as it still provides ample growing space, and helps support our community’s need for affordable housing. Motion and second to write a letter of support to the City Commission to accompany Habitat’s request for the land donation, and to explain the vision for continuing the Common Ground program in conjunction with the Habitat home. (Bates/Hampton) Motion approved unanimously.
4. Kansas Health Foundation Implementation Grant - $40,000 available through 2015.
  
  Eileen reminded FPC of this fund available to support implementation of our projects – from food hub to subcommittee programs. Let Eileen know if you have ideas/proposals for the use of this funding.
5. USDA Growing Food Connections: http://growingfoodconnections.org/
  
  Eileen reminded FPC members of this program, where Douglas County is featured as a leading “Community of Innovation.” The policy tool on the Growing Food Connections site has fabulous model policies that can serve as inspiration for subcommittee work.
6. Report-outs from recent conferences:
  1. KRC Annual Conference – Jen Humphrey.
    
    Jen shared that the KRC Conference was well-attended and inspiring. She attended several sessions with other ranchers, and appreciated the keynote by Ricardo Salvador of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He and other local food advocates are proposing a federal food policy council.
  2. Growing Power Conference – Jill Elmers and Emily Hampton.
    
    Jill and Emily both attended the Growing Power conference in Milwaukee, WI, an urban agriculture and farming conference. The other attendees were primarily food justice and food security advocates, and the keynotes were inspiring. The conference included an informative tour of the Growing Power facilities, which helped Jill and Emily envision what may be possible with the now-vacant Sunrise Garden Center.
Northeast Kansas Food Hub Feasibility Study next steps – 7:15 PM(Marlin Bates)
1. Update on composition of Core Team, next steps:
  
  Marlin provided an update that the core team (Eileen, Marlin, Emily Lucas (BNIM) and Katie Nixon (Lincoln Extension) have met several times to plan a path forward for implementation. Katie Nixon just submitted a grant for $50K to work with growers on the MO side of the state line on scaling up, and included funding for a mobile cooling unit to be used by farmers selling to the hub.
  
  The priority for the Core Team is to determine the business structure first. Therefore, they are planning a producer meeting the 2nd week of December to reach out to all growers/producers who responded in the survey that they were interested in owning or operating the hub. This meeting will include economists from MU and KU to help explain the various business model options.
  
  This will help the Core Team understand if current producers are willing/able to own and operate the hub or if we need to solicit interest outside of the producer network.
  
  FPC members discussed their support of this direction, and requested that the FPC stay involved and help explore business models, especially a multi-stakeholder coop structure.
Roundtable of updates on various FPC-related initiatives – 7:30 PM.
1. Lawrence Farmers Market long-term planning (Jen Humphrey).
  
  Jen Humphrey convened a meeting of representatives from Cottins Farmers Market, Lawrence Farmers Market, the FPC, and Downtown Rotary to discuss a future vision for a permanent and/or year-round location for the farmers market. The group decided to research hiring a consultant to conduct an assessment – using vendor surveys, customer surveys, etc. to determine the needs of the community and market. Jen is writing up a brief project description and they will send it out to potential consultants and funders to determine how to proceed.
2. Statewide Local Food and Farm Task Force (Ashley Jones-Wisener).
  
  Ashley attended the first meeting of the state’s Local Food and Farm Task Force at the new KDA buildings in Manhattan. The seven-member committee met to discuss their policy ideas, their committee schedule, and their goal of producing recommendations for the 2016 legislative session. Both Ashley and Eileen attended and offered the FPC to serve as a resource for the Task Force.
3. Downtown grocery progress (Eileen Horn).
  
  Discussions continue, and there is both City and neighborhood support for identifying a downtown grocer and location. Eileen will provide an update as soon as there is a role for the FPC.
4. Food System Coordinator hiring process (Eileen Horn).
  
  The County received 46 applications for this position, with a wide variety of skills and experience! The hiring committee will meet this week to pare down the list and interviews will begin the first week of December.
5. Lawrence Chefs and Farmers Alliance (Rick Martin).
  
  Rick shared that the LCFA has met twice with the goal of connecting chefs who want to buy local produce with local producers who want to establish sales contracts. Rick invited FPC members to attend, they meet the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
6. Sunrise Project (Emily Hampton).
  
  Emily shared that the Lawrence Community Food Alliance has applied for nonprofit status, formed a board, and identified a mission statement. The strategic plans are being drafted and a fundraising campaign is being planned. The broader vision is to create a center for education/engagement for food and social justice.
7. Market Match 2014 end-of-year reports and 2015 funding (Eileen Horn).
  
  Market Match for 2014 ends December 1st and is on track to disburse $9,000. Funding has been secured for the 2015 program (with $10K from the City Commission and $8K from the Topeka Community Foundation).
8. Common Ground Annual Report and 2015 plans (Tresa Carter).
  
  Tresa shared the highlights of the Common Ground program in 2014, which included the impact of the 8 sites: 149 farmers, 621 volunteers, 70+ classes and work days, and over 1,300 lbs of donated produce.
9. CDC Partners in Community Health & LiveWell Lawrence (Chris Tilden).
  
  Chris shared that the workplan is still in progress, but that interventions need to touch 80% of the population, therefore the food hub has been incorporated into this initiative as a systemic solution that could impact the broader population.
10. KRC’s new resource “Feeding Kansas” – a statewide farm and food system assessment, & action plan.
  
  http://kansasruralcenter.org/feeding-kansas/
11. Slow Money awards $60,000 to Baumann’s Cedar Valley Farms.
  
  At last week’s Slow Money conference in Louisville, KY, Rosanna Baumann was selected to receive a $60,000 Slow Money loan to assist with their creation of a non-GMO “feed hub” to grow and process non-GMO grains for livestock feed.
Subcommittee progress reports – 8:20 PM
- City
  
  The subcommittee did not meet, but progress is being made on the major initiatives – grocery store attraction, farmers market relocation, and Common Ground.
- County
  
  The County subcommittee is working with Mary Miller in the Planning Dept. to help support registration in the new Agritourism program. Also, the subcommittee is going to support a discussion of revising the current zoning regulations to consider the inclusion of Accessory Dwelling Units on county properties (as this would allow farms to host farmworkers on site, or family members).
- Community
  
  The Community subcommittee is meeting with the Master Gardeners and Master Food Volunteers to transition the Chefs Challenge to these entities as lead organizers. The subcommittee also worked with Tresa on the website redesign, and discussed the Buy Local pledge idea posed at the last Council meeting. The subcommittee decided to pursue the option of working with local grocery stores to encourage a Buy Local month of actual purchases, rather than a pledge campaign.
- State/Fed
  
  With the creation of a Farm to School Advisory Board and Coordinator within USD497, the State/Fed committee can shift focus from farm to school to other state and federal priorities. Therefore, Emily is going to recruit other members who are interested in state and federal policy.
Public comments – 8:40 PM

None.
FPC member updates – 8:50 PM

Amy Miller shared that the Horizon 2020 steering committee has hosted myriad public meetings and will close public input in December. They have received the Council’s recommendations. They will begin “issue prioritization” in January, and send a report to the City and County Commission for approval.

Marlin shared that KSU Research and Extension has closed the application period for the Agriculture/Natural Resources agent position and will begin interviewing soon.
Adjourn full council meeting – 9:00 PMBottom of Form

Time and Date

Monday, 11/17/14 1:00 pm

Location

Fire Station #5 in the Jayhawk Room

19th and Stewart, Lawrence, KS