Local Action for a Sustainable Tomorrow

Local Food Action Initiative a recipe to cure society's ills?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/359916_agric21.html
Plan's goals -- and its hurdles -- are sweeping
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER

It's a liberal manifesto aiming to transform how locally produced food gets to Seattle neighborhoods -- from promoting farmers markets to perhaps limiting the number of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores in the city.

Winning raves from some activists as "visionary," the "Local Food Action Initiative" offers goals as lofty as they are sweeping: racial and social justice, environmental sustainability, improved public health, economic development and more.

Almost no area of city government is excluded by this pet project of Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, which aims to curtail obesity, hunger and waste while improving access to and demand for fresh, more heathful foods.

But will the proposed resolution, now being considered by the City Council, actually produce results? Can the broad list of policy directives in the resolution overcome political and economic hurdles to make a practical difference in Seattle kitchens?

The need is real, say urban farmers, environmentalists, food-bank operators and other activists.

For example, finding healthful ingredients is a struggle for FareStart, a nonprofit that caters thousands of meals to homeless shelters and child care centers while training the homeless and others in the culinary industry.

"We really are trying to move to a locally grown and organic menu. ... We're having a really tough time," FareStart's Adrienne Easter told a council committee last week. "We can't find enough food to provide for the child care sites. We're kind of stuck between this half processed, half whole foods menu."

Beyond its ideological framework, Conlin's resolution does outline specific tasks expected of city agencies. Still, those are requests for studies and ideas, not orders backed by the teeth of regulations. And they don't come with funding.

Meanwhile, Mayor Greg Nickels' office has largely been noncommittal on the idea, which in practical terms, would likely need his buy-in to succeed.

"The idea of local food production and local food promotion is a really good thing," Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said. "But I'm not certain all of the items contained in his resolution are reasonable or well-thought-out. But they also deserve the merits of discussion at the council, I'm sure.

"I haven't spent a lot of time looking at it," Ceis said. "Initially, it looks like a lot of new programs and expenditures for the city departments that are outside of the budget process. I have a little bit of concern about that."

Still, Conlin said the measure is significant in laying the groundwork for an "integrated approach" to a number of food-related issues.

"It's a step in the right direction," Conlin said. "It's laying out the work plan for us, for how we're going to get from here to there. And it's setting some priorities -- and that's really the critical point.

"There's a whole lot of different issues surrounding the world of food systems," he said. "What we wanted to do is bring them all together and recognize that we need to solve them all together. And you're not going to be able to do what you need to do by tackling them piecemeal."

The measure would identify "healthy food" goals for the city. Those include: increased reliance on local resources, minimized energy use, an improved food emergency preparedness plan, and promotion of healthful food alternatives, especially among low-income communities.

It also would request city agencies to conduct analyses and produce reports this fall, including the following:

The Neighborhoods Department is asked to study threats to food security, including the concentration of fast food restaurants; to suggest ways to better link farmers with urban consumers, especially minorities and immigrants and major city institutions; and to propose ideas for decreasing environmental impacts of the food system.

That department is also asked to inventory public lands and recommend community garden locations and a new P-patch strategy.

The Economic Development Department is asked to review city policies pertaining to farmers markets and gardens, and to propose permanent locations for such markets.

The Planning and Development Department is asked to review city land-use policies pertaining to encouraging small and midsize grocery stores and other ideas meant to support local food production and security. That agency also would be asked to consider options for restricting convenience stores and fast food restaurants.

The Transportation Department is asked to include in its overall planning criteria access for pedestrians, bicycles and transit users to community gardens, food banks, groceries and farmers markets.

The Office of Emergency Management is asked to review the city's Disaster Readiness and Response Plan for food security shortfalls.

The Office of Sustainability and Environment is asked to draw up plans for ways to use food policies and programs to address climate change initiatives.

The Human Services Department is asked to weigh in with ideas for increasing use of locally grown foods in the emergency food system.

From these starting points, city officials can further explore a range of more tangible ideas, Conlin said. Then the council and mayor can enact those showing the most promise, through stronger regulations and specific program changes. For example, the studies might lead to more specific zoning changes or permanent land set-asides for farmers markets.

"Those things need to be done by ordinance," Conlin said. "The goal of the resolution is to set the policy direction. ... And then we'll follow up with the specific ordinances."

And a wide range of liberal special interests share Conlin's enthusiasm. Dozens of activists testified overwhelmingly in support of the measure at a public hearing last week.

"This resolution is a critical piece of the huge positive wave of change that we must address if we're going to tackle the climate change challenge," said Mo McBroom of the Washington Environmental Council.

Many of those groups are counting on the ideals in the measure to lead to real change. For example, Jessica Vets of the Seattle Farmers' Markets Association said red tape too often binds efforts to provide city residents with healthful options.

"I'm really hoping that this initiative filters down to the people at the front lines," Vets told Conlin at the hearing. "As a farmers market manager, I want to see some of those roadblocks go away."

Even if the measure is approved, however, the mayor would have the final word. Each of the city departments that would be directed to conduct the research answer to Nickels. Nickels may -- and has previously -- simply direct those departments not to do the work, even if it were budgeted.

"We'll look at it and determine whether or not we can with (the requests) within existing budget and resources," Ceis said. "There are lots of other big drivers on the budget for the city right now. We'll want to look at any new ideas like these in the context of overall (budget) demands that are out there.

"The economic horizon looks a little cloudy," Ceis said, adding that the city is facing a squeeze on revenues and increased expenses, especially labor costs. "We just need to be careful. We're looking at the gotta-haves versus the nice-to-haves."

For example, the resolution asks the Transportation Department to evaluate emergency food supply distribution routes. "I'm not sure how realistic something like that is," Ceis said. "Or (how) necessary, either."

Conlin said the council would work through any funding challenges for the work. Beyond that, several departments have expressed enthusiasm for the ideas and the mayor's office has not shared any concerns, he said. "We haven't had any specific feedback from the executive, so I am assuming they're going to do a good-faith effort to implement it," Conlin said.

"It's just not high on their radar screen right now. This is a new topic for the city to be working on," he said. Conlin also noted that his recent "zero waste" initiative -- an effort to prevent and reduce waste -- started on the theoretical side, with a consultant's study. As with the Conlin's current project, Nickels' office was at first privately skeptical of Conlin's waste-reduction effort.

But after the study produced a long list of headline-friendly and low-cost environmental protection measures last year, Nickels came on board. Conlin now notes that the study bolstered political support for specific policy changes, such as Nickels' and Conlin's pending proposal to charge a 20-cent tax on grocery bags and ban foam food packaging.

Still, the council funded that study through its own budget.

P-I reporter Angela Galloway can be reached at 206-448-8333 or angelagalloway@seattlepi.com. Follow politics on the P-I's blog at blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics.

Sid Maroney