Food Policy Council (FPC) Meeting on Mon, April 20, 2015 - 7:00 PM

To Be Announced

FPC Attendees: Jill Elmers, Carol Gilmore, Elizabeth Stewart, Pattie Johnson, Daniel Poull, Brenna Wulfkuhle, Teresa Flory, Jan Hornberger, Jen Humphrey, Emily Hampton, T.K. Peterson, Ashley Jones-Wisner, Crystal Hammerschmidt,  Marlin Bates, Pep Selvan, Boog Highberger, Kim Criner, Jason Hering

Absent: Robert Lominska, Sandra Lawson, Tyra Kalman-Crouch, Brady Pollington,

Chris Tilden, Amy Miller

Staff members: Eileen Horn     Guests: Aundrea Shafer, Emily Ryan, Veronica V., Amanda Cook

 

1. Administrative items – 7:00 PM
   1. Determine quorum of members, agenda approval.
      
      With 19/23 members in attendance, a quorum was reached.
   2. Approval of March meeting minutes.

Motion and second to accept the March meeting minutes as written. (Gilmore/Hampton) Motion passed unanimously.

1. Assignment of FPC members to subcommittees (City, County, Community) 
   
   FPC members discussed subcommittee assignments.  New subcommittee rosters are:

 

 

 

City – Revisiting standing meeting time - TBD

1. Crystal Hammerschmidt
2. Daniel Poull
3. Pattie Johnston
4. Chris Tilden
5. Jen Humphrey
6. Bob Lominska
7. Ashley Jones-Wisner
8. Emily Hampton
9. Boog Highberger

 

County – Meet second Tuesday of the month at DC Extension 3-4pm

1. Teresa Flory
2. Jason Hering
3. Jan Hornberger 
4. Marlin Bates
5. Sandra Lawson
6. Brenna Wulfkuhle
7. Brady Pollington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community – Meet second Friday of the month at Merc 7:30-8:30am

1. Carol Gilmore
2. Jill Elmers
3. Chris Tilden
4. Kim Criner
5. Elizabeth Stewart
6. Tyra Kalman-Crouch
7. Pep Selvan
8. T.K. Peterson

 

 

 

 

 

1. Discussion of Food Systems Coordinator Projects and Roles. (Eileen Horn)

   Eileen shared with the Council that her role/connection with the FPC will continue for several months as Helen, the Food Systems Coordinator, gets trained.  Then, they will evaluate which roles each will play in supporting the FPC.

    

2. Food Policy Council Projects Updates – 7:20 PM

   1. Northeast Kansas Food Hub (Marlin Bates)
      
       

      Marlin shared that the food hub producer steering committee just met.  The group originally had 7 members, but 2 have since left the effort to work on a small aggregation/distribution venture.  The remaining 5 are committed to seeing the process through, and are working on their operating agreement with support from the KU Small Business Development Center.
      
       

      Eileen asked the FPC to consider requesting funding from the Kansas Health Foundation Food Policy Council Implementation Grant.  This grant has $40K available.

      Marlin relayed that the food hub producer steering committee identified some immediate funding needs (i.e. some legal fees to review operating agreement, incorporation of the LLC, marketing/branding, etc.) 
      
       

      Motion and second to support the food hub producer steering committee with an initial $20,000 from the KHF Implementation Grant (if we are successful in our application for those funds). (Wulfkuhle/Poull).  Motion passed unanimously.

       

   2. Buy Local Campaign (Kim Criner)

       

      Kim reported that we have signed MOUs from the following grocery partners (Baldwin City, Gene’s Heartland Foods in Eudora, Checkers, and the Merc) with verbal commitment from the Hy-Vee stores.  Dillons has declined to participate despite initial indications that they would.

       

      The first deliverable for this project will be the directories for the producers and grocers.  Helen will be tackling this ASAP.

       

   3. Market Match (Eileen Horn)

       

      Eileen shared that Tresa Carter, our Market Match Coordinator, will be facilitating the program this year, and is currently helping new markets access the EBT processing machines needed to participate in the program.  The goal is to expand from two to five markets in 2015. Tresa will be producing monthly reports for the FPC, and asks Council members to spread the word about this program. 

       

   4. Common Ground (Aundrea Shafer)

       

      Aundrea is working with our Common Ground gardens to help meet their needs this season – including technical assistance and education.  She has already worked with Marlin to teach a gardening class, and is setting up a grant-writing workshop for the gardens. 

       

   5. Legislative Update (Ashley Jones-Wisner)

       

      Ashley shared an update of the Anti-SNAP, Anti-TANF legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor last week.  According to Ashley, the three most damaging provisions included:  1) A reduction of the time recipients can receive benefits – from 60 months to 36, 2) A prohibition against using federal dollars to promote SNAP, and 3) A restriction that would only allow $25 withdrawals of TANF funds at a time.

       

      Ashley also shared that the Local Food and Farm Task Force at the state level met last week to tour Dillon’s, and is accepting comment from stakeholders.  Eileen will re-engage with that effort and report back next month on any action steps for the FPC to consider.

       

3. Council Discussion : Planning for long-term farmers market locations – 7:50 PM

    

   The City Subcommittee is spearheading an effort to assess farmers market needs countywide.  Thus far, the proposal has been to pursue funding to hire a consultant to assess the needs and opportunities for our county’s farmers markets.  Jen has elicited letters of support from all county markets.

    

   The full Council discussed the City subcommittee’s request that each councilmember take on researching one community to see how their farmers markets are organized and planned for.  Eileen provided a list and councilmembers volunteered to take one city apiece to research.

    

   FPC members will research (via Google, phone calls, etc.) the following questions:

4. Basic background (how many markets?)

5. Structure/governance/paid personnel, etc.

6. How do the farmers markets in that community interact with each other?

7. Does that community have a food policy council, and if so, how do they interact with the farmers markets?

8. Has the community undergone a farmers market planning process?Any tips? Advice? Pitfalls to avoid?

    

 

Research Community:

FPC Member Responsible:

Presentation Month:

1

Cedar Rapids, IA

Jan Hornberger

May

2

Iowa City, IA

Brady Pollington

May

3

Fort Collins, CO

Jen Humphrey

May

4

Boulder, CO

Jason Hering

May

5

Lincoln, NE

Teresa Flory

May

6

Columbia, MO

Pep Selvan

May

7

Tulsa, OK

Elizabeth Stewart

May

8

Ames, IA

Daniel Poull

May

9

Austin, TX

Jill Elmers

June

10

Ithaca, NY

Marlin Bates

June

11

Burlington, VT

Jill Elmers

June

12

Asheville, NC

Carol Gilmore

June

13

Louisville, KY

Brenna Wulfkuhle

June

14

Roanoke, VA

Pattie Johnson

June

15

Bloomington, IN

Sandra Lawson

June

16

Raleigh-Durham, NC

Tyra Kalman-Crouch

June

17

Portland, ME

Emily Hampton

July

18

Wichita, KS

Ashley Jones-Wisner

July

19

Kansas City, MO

Crystal Hammerschmidt

July

20

Abingdon, VA

Pattie Johnson

July

21

Athens, OH

Kim Criner

July

22

Madison, WI

T.K. Peterson

July

23

Corvalis, OR

Boog Highberger

July

24

Boise, ID

Chris Tilden

July

 

 

 

 

1. Subcommittee progress reports – 8:10 PM

    

   • City – See item #3, Full Council Discussion

      

   • County –

      

     The County subcommittee’s key initiative currently is to increase awareness amongst farmers and food entrepreneurs of the availability of the incubator kitchen at the Douglas County fairgrounds.  Thus far, this commercial kitchen has been underutilized, despite the policy changes we enacted last year to increase the hours of operation and reduce the cost.

      

     The County subcommittee has brainstormed a name: Rent-A-Kitchen, and a slogan: “Helping your business get cookin’”

      

     The subcommittee requested $750 from the FPC budget to pay for logo design and branding support.  This would help create educational materials, web content, and a logo to help partners spread the word about the availability of the program.

     Motion and second to allocate up to $750 for marketing of the incubator kitchen (Stewart/Humphrey).  Motion passed unanimously.

      

   • Community –

      

     The Community subcommittee is currently focused on three projects – the Chefs Challenge, the Buy Local Campaign, and the Directory.  The Chefs Challenge planning coordination is underway with the Master Gardeners and Master Food Volunteers.  Carol is doing a fantastic job coordinating those efforts.  Kim has secured MOUs from our participating grocery stores (see notes above).  Helen will dig into the directory creation as one of her first projects.

      

2. Public comments – 8:40 PM

    

   Aundrea Shafer asked the Council for advice/direction on a cooking class she is teaching for Bert Nash in late June.  Councilmembers offered suggestions of contacts for her.

    

   Amanda Cook thanked the FPC for their ongoing support of Market Match, and shared that now LFM can help us track per-vendor sales with the program for better data collection.  LFM is also doing education on how to use seasonal crops.

    

    

    

    

3. FPC member updates – 8:50 PM

    

   Eileen shared that the Horizon 2020 steering committee is undergoing a process of “issue identification” and local food remains on that list of items they heard from the community.  Eileen shared that the committee is interested in asking the FPC to create a standalone Food Systems Plan that would be incorporated by reference into H2020.  Councilmembers agreed that this seemed like a good time to undertake this project now that Helen, a trained planner, is on board.

    

    

   Carols shared some resources she recommended:

    

   Public Health Law Center – Kansas Resources-  http://publichealthlawcenter.org/topics/special-collections/kansas-resources

    

   Community Commons- http://www.communitycommons.org/

    

    

    

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