Local Food Policy Councils-Getting Started

May 15, 2008: About 55 attendees representing 12 counties (Cowlitz, Jefferson, Kittitas, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom, Clark, King, Chelan)

There was a buzz about the day—not only was it the first nice day in western WA in about a week, but it was the first chance several of these communities had to get together to discuss food policy.

Mark Winne, Food Policy Council expert and author of Closing the Food Gap, launched an interactive presentation that covered the basics of food policy and Food Policy Councils including outcomes, making partnerships, the role of a FPC, different forms of Food Policy Councils, the pros and cons of working with government. 

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin spoke to the group about the Local Food Action Initiative and other food policy related work that is happening in Seattle. He also provided some tips for working with local government officials.

Community groups from Clark, Pierce, King, Whatcom, and Chelan Counties shared shared inspiring stories of food policy from their communities.  

Three communities presented their experiences with their Local Food Organization with the group. Branden Born, a professor in urban planning at University of Washington, presented on King County’s 4-year their process to create a Food Policy Council. At this point, the Council is called the Acting Food Policy Council since it has not been officially recognized by government. He connected the development to the process that Mark Winne presented in the first session of the day.

The second panelist was Kristine Perry, a community educator with Clark County Community Choices. She discussed the development of the Clark County Food Systems Council. This council stared in 2007 and is still in the early stages of development, although they intend to have 21 people sit on the advisory council.

Finally, Joan Qazi, a community member from Wenatchee, talked about EAT NCW, which stands for Education and Agriculture Together, North-Central Washington. EAT NCW is a community network that works to promote local food in the NCW region.

After the panel, participants got into their community workgroups and discussed a set of questions to help them plan for their next steps, and had a chance to have an informal question and answer session with Mark Winne.

Participants reported that they appreciated the high quality presentations and wanted to hear more from Mark Winne.