Food Policy Council (FPC) Meeting on Mon, December 15, 2014 - 7:00 PM

See top meeting link for full agenda.

I.                    Administrative items – 7:00 PM.

a.       Determine quorum of members, agenda approval.

b.      Approval of November meeting minutes.

c.       Presentation of maternity leave plans for Eileen.

d.      Discussion of FPC vacancies: 

                                                               i.      Requesting to be reappointed:  Jill Elmers, Paula Murrish (Crystal Hammerschmidt), Jason Hering, Pattie Johnston, Jan Hornberger, Emily Hampton, Jen Humphrey

                                                             ii.      Tentative:  Boog (exp. 2015), Greg (exp. 2016), Rick (exp. 2015)?

II.                  Northeast Kansas Food Hub Feasibility Study next steps – 7:15 PM  (Marlin Bates)

a.       Report-out from owner/operator meeting on Dec. 9th.

b.      Next steps in feasibility study process.

III.                Roundtable of updates on various FPC-related initiatives – 7:30 PM.

a.       Lawrence Farmers Market long-term planning (Jen Humphrey).

b.      Downtown grocery progress (Eileen Horn).

c.       Food System Coordinator hiring process (Jill Elmers).

d.      Lawrence Chefs and Farmers Alliance (Rick Martin).

e.      Market Match 2014 end-of-year reports and 2015 funding (Eileen Horn).

f.        CDC Partners in Community Health & LiveWell Lawrence (Chris Tilden).

IV.                Subcommittee shuffle survey results and assignments for all FPC members – 8:00 PM (Jill Elmers)

V.                  Subcommittee progress reports – 8:20 PM

·        City

·        County

·        Community

·        State/Fed

VI.Public comments – 8:40 PM

VII.FPC member updates – 8:50 PM

VIII.Adjourn full council meeting – 9:00 PM

FPC Attendees: Emily Hampton, Boog Highberger, Marlin Bates, Kim Criner, Bob Lominska, Brady Pollington, Daniel Poull, Chris Tilden, Jason Hering, Jen Humphrey, Carol Gilmore,  Jill Elmers, Pattie Johnston, Brenna Wulfkuhle, Crystal Hammerschmidt, Ashley Jones-Wisener

Absent:  Rick Martin, Rita York-Henneke, Greg Shipe, Elizabeth Stewart, Teresa Flory,

Diane Fishburn, Jan Hornberger

Staff members: Eileen Horn, Amy Miller, Tresa Carter

Guests: Don Muller, Hillary Brown, Hillary Kass, Steve Moring, Charlie Bryan, Natasha Frost

1. Administrative items – 7:00 PM.
   1. Determine quorum of members, agenda approval.  With 16 members in attendance a quorum was reached. 
   2. Approval of November meeting minutes.  Motion and second to approve minutes as written (Gilmore, Bates).  Motion approved unanimously.
   3. Presentation of maternity leave plans for Eileen.

Eileen has delegated projects that must be continued in her absence, and assured committee members that their work would continue uninterrupted. Jill Elmers stepped up to be more available as this is a slower time of year for her. Tresa Carter will help with minutes, agendas and communications.

1. Discussion of FPC vacancies: 
   1. Requesting to be reappointed:  Jill Elmers, Paula Murrish (Crystal Hammerschmidt), Jason Hering, Pattie Johnston, Jan Hornberger, Emily Hampton, Jen Humphrey
   2. Tentative:  Boog – At-large (exp. 2015), Greg – producer (exp. 2016), Rick – retail (exp. 2015)
      1. Boog informed the committee he will miss the first four months of meetings, but would like to stay on. Discussion to follow with Eileen.
      2. This will be a discussion at the January meeting for the FPC to consider replacements for those three positions (At-large, producer, retail).

1. Northeast Kansas Food Hub Feasibility Study next steps

Marlin reported to the committee about the updates from the producer meeting held last week in Overland Park, Whole Foods. There were originally 49 people who indicated they were very interested in ownership of the Food Hub. 21 people showed up for the meeting, but there was no clear interest expressed from any persons in ownerships. Conclusion of the meeting indicated that more analysis of potential business structures is needed.  Marlin and the “core team” of the food hub implementation group are working on a mid-January meeting to present business options to potential food hub owners/operators. The Director of the KSU Coop Center has agreed to present on the producer coop model.  Organizers are still looking for presenters on nonprofit and LLC business models.  Boog Highberger also offered to help at the state level by authoring a bill that could allow the state of Kansas to have multi-stakeholder co-op ownership models. 

1. Council discussion of potential long-term FPC Project

Jen Humphrey presented about the need for planning for the future of our regional farmers market.  After reviewing sample studies and reports from other communities, this planning group concluded that Douglas County should participate in similar research for our area farmers’ markets to inform decisions about future locations of “anchor” (Saturday) markets and “satellite” (weekday) markets. The planning group consists of representatives from the Food Policy Council, Lawrence Farmers Market, Cottins Farmers Market, and Downtown Rotary Club.

The FPC would like to invite Amanda, the Board Chair of the Lawrence Farmers Market, to join the January FPC meeting to discuss this further. Before the FPC is willing to vote to pursue this research, they requested a direct approval/vote from the Lawrence Farmers’ Market Board.  At the next full committee meeting, the FPC will discuss potential research strategies and questions, if so directed.  The FPC agreed that we should communicate with all of the markets on our list to explore their support of the FPC taking on this research task.  Motion and second to solicit letters of support/request for assistance from regional farmers markets. (Pollington, Marlin). Vote: Motion approved unanimously.  

1. Roundtable of updates on various FPC-related initiatives:
   1. Downtown grocery progress – Eileen Horn/Charlie Bryan:

Eileen shared that last Tuesday J.R. and Jim Lewis of Checkers came to the City Commission asking for dedicated parking spots along 11th and Mass. This would be part of the proposed 7-story building, that would include a grocery store. The conversation was sent to staff for further research, which will likely include public meetings.

There is a downtown grocery store advocacy group that has been pushing for a downtown grocery in the old Border’s building at 7th and New Hampshire. This group has engaged the Mayor and Vice Mayor to support their request and communicate with the property owners and Lewises.  These discussions are in preliminary stages, and thus not yet ready for FPC participation.  Eileen will report back to the FPC as the discussion evolves and if there is need for FPC comment. Eileen will share a map of the food desert in North Lawrence with the committee at their request.

1. Food Systems Coordinator hiring process – Jill Elmers.

There were 46 applications, both local and out of state, that were whittled down to a seven who were interviewed (in-person & Skype). The process is on hold until January 13th, when CDC is set to approve the revised work plan and budget.

1. Lawrence Chefs and Farmers Alliance – Jill Elmers/Bob Lominska.

The third meeting was held, which was mostly attended by local producers. It was productive and the goal of the meeting was to determine best practices for communication amongst producers and chefs. Jill Elmers volunteers to create a directory of contacts to be shared. The group wants to bring in more chefs who are not yet using local produce. This is a networking group, and will be using the down time in winter to plan. Brenna Wulfkuhle would like to be included in the directory creation, so to ensure that protein producers are included in the discussion.

1. Market Match 2014 end-of-year reports and 2015 funding – Eileen Horn

Eileen shared the 2014 highlights of the program. It was a great success and well-received by community members who participated. The plan for 2015 is to reach more people and farmers’ markets in an attempt to grow the program. The City Commission budgeted $10,000 for the program next year, which will grow the City of Lawrence Farmers’ Markets; The Kansas Health Foundation gave $15,000 and the Topeka Community Foundation gave $8,000. Tresa Carter will take over as Market Match Coordinator starting February 1, 2015. As Tresa and Eileen plan for 2015, they will consider how to get people who wouldn’t normally shop at a farmers’ market to go there, and to advertise the program better to rural areas, including food pantries.

1. CDC Partners in Community Health & LiveWell Lawrence – Chris Tilden.

Chris shared that money from these funds will help pay the salary of Aundrea Shafer to support the Common Ground program in 2015. Chris also shared that LiveWell Lawrence funded the ECM to purchase a fridge and freezer to help grow their on-site food hub. 

1. Subcommittee shuffle survey results and assignments for all FPC members – Jill Elmers:

City: Bob Lominska, Crystal Hammerschmidt, Daniel Poull, Pattie Johnson, Chris Tilden, Jen Humphrey

County: Teresa Flory, Jason Hering, Jan Hornberger, Marlin Bates, Diane Fishburn, Brenna Wulfkuhle

Community: Carol Gilmore, Jill Elmers, Chris Tilden, Kim Criner, Elizabeth Stewart

State/Fed: Emily Hampton, Ashley Jones-Wisener, Brady Pollington, Nancy O’Connor, Boog Highberger

As yet unassigned: Greg Shipe, Rick Martin, Rita York Hennecke

1. Subcommittee progress reports
   1. City

Jen Humphrey and Eileen Horn reviewed the Common Ground 2015 plans (openings at 1304 & 1313 Penn St.). The 2015 application is out for people to apply, but may open it back up again later in the season if necessary. The 815 Oak site was pulled this year due to the involvement of Habitat Humanity on that property in the New Year. There are two new sites at Kingston and N. Iowa and Edgewood Park.  There is 6/10 of an acre available at the incubator farm. www.lawrenceks.org/commonground

Applications are due Monday, December 22nd.

1. County

Brenna Wulfkuhle shared that the County did not convene this past month due to scheduling conflicts. They are looking for clarification on the agritourism sign up, and got the confirmation they were hoping for from Zoning regarding on-farm accessory dwelling units.

1. Community

Carol Gilmore shared about 2015 Chef’s Challenge plans, which has a budget of $700. Marlin Bates, Rick Martin, and Carol will be leading that separate task force. They are hoping to collaborate with the FPC, Master Gardeners and Master Food Volunteers to make this event a success.

The Buy Local Campaign is being led by Kim Criner who is working on inviting and convening grocery stores to develop a campaign for sometime next summer. They are looking for contacts in Baldwin and Eudora, but have already gotten a commitment from Dillons, and waiting on confirmation from Hy-Vee.

1. State/Fed

Did not meet due to lack of members.  They will resume meeting now.  No update.

1. Public Comments
   1. Steve Moring – Jefferson County is having a second meeting on starting a Food Policy Council Saturday, Dec. 13 from 9am-1pm in Jefferson County. Eileen is presenting.
   2. Natasha Frost – guest of Ashley Jones-Wisener, Natasha works for the Public Health Law Center in Minnesota and was excited to sit in on the meeting.   She praised the work of the FPC and the statewide model we’re setting.
2. FPC member updates

Kim Criner shared that KU got their survey results back from students interest in an on-campus CSA. It reflected that there’s great interest in such a program. (500+ respondents were interested!)

Brenna Wulfkuhle shared that Diane Fishburn has been working closely with the Farm Bureau to pass a resolution about local food and FPCs for their 2015 policy statements.  Eileen will get a copy and forward to the FPC.

1. Adjourn full council meeting – 9:00 PMBottom of Form

Motion and second to adjourn (Pollington, Bates.)

2015 policy statements.