Greening the Food Desert: A Range of Solutions
Led By: Mari Gallagher; Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group/National Center for Public Research, & Peter Hoy and Alex Tuchman, Loyola University
Greening the Food Desert will introduce the problem of urban food deserts and open a discussion for a range of ways to address the issue. Presenters will frame the discussion using recently updated research by Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group and Loyola University Chicago students. Proposed solutions include locating grocery stores in areas of high need and assessing potential impact, addressing the non-compliance of �Food Stamps� retailers, and supporting nutritional education through community garden programs.
Participants will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of food desert issues and a resource toolkit for evaluating if Food Stamp retailers in their neighborhood comply with federal standards and how to start a community garden in Chicago.
Healthy Food for All: Food Security Advocacy with Chicago�s Bhutanese Refugee Community
Led By: Heartland Alliance, Representatives: Sarah Eichberger, Refugee Nutrionist, Mary Pimmel, Refugee Health Programs Intern, Uma Devi Mishra, Health Promoter & A Bhutanese Refugee Community Representative (TBD)
Do you know how to connect community garden participants� experiences to larger food policy issues? In this session, you will learn more about work with the Bhutanese refugee community around food security issues and community based participatory research. You will come away with a greater awareness of refugee food security issues, and an understanding of how you can advocate for and contribute to refugee food security. You will also receive resources and ideas for how to include marginalized communities in food security advocacy work.
Chicago Stormwater as Resource: Using Runoff for Soil Restoration, Recharge of Aquifers, Biomass Production, and Urban Agriculture
Led By: Deb Shore, Metropolitan Water Reclamation Department Commissioner, Kevin Carroll Chicago Department of Transportation, James Kern and Saudia Davis
Stormwater runoff from urban agricultural and horticultural sites is a potential resource for reducing soil contamination and recharging aquifers. This session explores the use of a combination of runoff capture and phytoremediation to decontaminate urban soils.
Both during and after the process of soil decontamination, captured runoff infiltrates to aquifers. In addition to recharging aquifers, this reduces the demand on Chicago's stormwater management system.
This approach can be applied to plots adjacent to existing urban agricultural and horticultural sites. Once soil contaminants are removed, agricultural production can be expanded onto these plots.
Land Use Policy for Urban Agriculture in Chicago: Rewrite the Municipal Code with AUA (Advocates for Urban Agriculture)
Led By: Advocates for Urban Agriculture, Representatives: Harry Rhodes, Growing Home, Chad Bliss, Cob Connections & Ryan Anderson, Delta Institute, Martha Boyd, Angelic Organics Learning Center
You're re-writing the code - What does it need to say? In this session, you'll receive a brief update by AUA members regarding the status of current activity with City policy development efforts. Then help draft new policy with a focus on vacant land use for Urban Agriculture.
The session will consider the following:
� Reasons why Urban Agriculture is good use of vacant land
� Current and foreseen barriers to using land for Urban Agriculture
� What else gets proposed for vacant land instead -- other uses that an alderman or the city might wait for
� Different kinds of lands (residential vacant, industrial vacant, next to RR, �brownfields,� parking lots, etc.)
� Different kinds of potential Urban Agriculture uses
� Ways past or beyond the barriers to Urban Agriculture
� Kinds of policies needed for Urban Agriculture projects and enterprises to succeed -- What sort of language do we need on the books?
Food Access/Farmers Markets: Best Practices for Growing Community Markets
Led By: Dennis Ryan, 61st Street Farmers Market, Karen Stark, Geneva Green Market & Robin Schirmer, Churches Center for Land and People/Tomato Mountain Farm
An interactive conversation covering all aspects of a successful farmers market, from the initial planning phase to a sustainable market place, which benefits your community, and the farmers and food artisans who sell at the market.
Topics will include:
- Determining whether a farmers market is right for your community
- Working with relevant government agencies
- Establishing market rules, regulations and vendor criteria
- Budgeting and staffing (paid and volunteer)
- Farmer / Vendor recruitment
- SNAP / EBT
- Promotion and Advertising
- Educational Programming
- Balancing all participants� best interests � Market, Community, Shoppers, and Farmers/Vendors
Youth and Good Food: Challenges to Eating Well and Policies for Empowerment
Led By: Deborah Lapidus, Value [the] Meal, Amber Thomas, God's Gang & Arielle Thomas, God's Gang
City youth often lack direct and affordable access to healthy, sustainable foods due to poverty and lack of access to both mainstream and alternative healthy food vendors, such as farmer's markets. At the same time, our youth are targeted almost from birth by unhealthy food marketing, and the most unhealthy food is often more affordable and more available. We will review exciting new policy options that are designed to protect and empower our youth, and discuss how they might be implemented on a policy level right here in Chicago.
Healthy Corner Stores: Making Fresh Produce the Easy Choice, for Storeowners and Customers.
Led By: Mari Gallagher, Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group/National Center for Public Research, Lee Bouchard, Urban Habitat Chicago/Operation Frontline, Cassie Green, Green Grocer & Brooke Havlik, Operation Frontline
Perhaps in your travels outside the U.S. you�ve seen sidewalks brimming with fresh fruit and vegetables outside every corner store. Why not here?
One of multiple reasons is the difficulty that Chicago retailers often face in obtaining affordable fresh produce for sale. A potential solution would be to provide a government-initiated wholesale market/distributor dedicated to small retailers, as has proved successful in other cities.
Chicago�s Green City Markets provide a precedent for city government - based food sales. Also, the proposed 2011 Federal budget currently includes a �Healthy Food Financing Initiative�, to invest in food stores in underserved communities.
In many Chicago neighborhoods without large grocery stores in walking distance, small corner retailers, where fresh produce may not be an option, provide a primary food source for families.
The goal of this policy workshop is to determine supply-side and infrastructure strategies to quickly increase produce availability in Chicago stores on a widespread basis.
The Illinois Fresh Food Fund & Civic Engagement 101: Speaking Effectively to Elected Official
Led By: Gaston Armour, Illinois Office of Security and Emergency Prepardness, Jim Braun, Local Food, Farms and Jobs Coalition, Sarah Carlson, GROW,
The Illinois Fresh Food Financing Initiative (IFFFI) is a capitalization program designed to increases access to fresh food in underserved communities across Illinois. Using Illinois SB 1221 (The Fresh Food Fund) as a model, this session will provide citizen knowledge and skills to effectively encourage their neighbors to engage in changing public policy. Participants will come away with an understanding of this Fresh Food Fund, comprehension of political nuances, courage and inspiration to engage with governing officials, and foundational principles required to responsibly get elected officials to support their position.
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