FALL POLICY ROUND-UP:
• City of LA Street Food Vending Motion Introduced
• Food Day 2013 - A Day of Food Policy Action
• Summary of 2013 Food Policy Action in Sacramento
• United Nations Report: More Small, Local Farms are Needed
INTERVIEW:
• Phil McGrath: Owner of McGrath Family Farm and LAFPC Leadership Board Member
LAFPC NETWORK SURVEY
Attention LAFPC Network Participants:
Please take the LAFPC Network Survey!
The Los Angeles Food Policy Council Network is a collaborative space designed to help people and organizations connect, learn and work together on improving the Los Angeles regional food system. We'd like to learn more about who is participating in the Network and how we can make it an even more effective resource for everyone involved.
We would appreciate it if those who attend the bimonthly LAFPC Network meetings could complete the Network Survey by January 15, 2014—it takes less than 10 minutes. Please click here for link to the LAFPC Network Survey.
Thanks so much for your participation! Feel free to contact us at info@goodfoodla.org if you have any questions, or if you would like to learn more about participating in the LAFPC Network.
NEWS
Coming Up Next Year...
2013 has been a year of transition, and the Los Angeles Food Policy Council has completed one of our own. We are looking forward to the leadership of Alexa Delwiche, Clare Fox, Micheal Flood of the LA Food Bank, and Joann Lo of the Food Chain Workers Alliance. Stay tuned for more information in our next newsletter!
LAFPC Releases "Food System Snapshot" Report
The Los Angeles Food Policy Council is excited to announce the release of our “2013-2014 Los Angeles Food System Snapshot” report, which provides important baseline information on the state of the Los Angeles regional foodshed.
With data, statistics and infographics for over 100 indicators, the Snapshot covers a wide range of information related to our foodshed, Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles. Indicators are grouped into nine food system topic areas: Regional Foodshed, Environmental Sustainability, Health, Retail Food Environment & Street Food, Food System Workers, Food Security, Urban Agriculture, Animal Welfare, and Food Waste.
On Saturday, September 7, 2013, corner stores, neighborhood markets and other small food businesses converged at Los Angeles Trade Tech College for “Healthy Foods, Healthy Businesses,” a full day of inspiring lectures, workshops, and networking to enhance healthy food retail in Los Angeles. The “Healthy Foods, Healthy Businesses” event was the fourth in a series of leadership and business development trainings for corner stores and small food businesses in low-income communities who want to vend healthy food at their stores in an economically sustainable way for their businesses. Check out the program and event photo album here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sustainable Seafood Solutions: A Panel Discussion
Thursday, February 27, 2014
DATE & TIME: Thursday, February 27, 2014. 6:00 - 9:00 pm LOCATION: Loyola Marymount University
This panel discussion will bring together commercial fisheries, aquaculture producers, policy experts, and seafood purchasers for an engaging dialogue that empowers consumers to support local fishing communities and build capacity for responsible, local aquaculture production by making informed choices at their local fish counters and favorite restaurants. The event is sponsored by Sustainable Seafood LA, a working group of the LA Food Policy Council, comprised of Aquarium of the Pacific, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Heal the Bay, the LA Food Policy Council, Loyola Marymount University Office of Sustainability, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation, and Whole Foods Market. You can visit the LAFPC website for more information about the panel discussion.
FALL 2013 POLICY ROUND-UP
Motion Introduced to Explore Legalization of Street Vending in City of LA
On November 6, 2013, Los Angeles City Council members Jose Huizar (CD14) and Curren Price Jr. (CD9) introduced a motion to explore the possibility of legalizing sidewalk food vending in Los Angeles. The motion asks the Bureau of Street Services and Economic and Workforce Development Department to report back to Council with recommendations for the regulation of street vending on city sidewalks and parkways. The report will include strategies for encouraging the sale of healthy foods.
As the motion states, "Street vending on the City right-of-way and sidewalk is illegal. In the average year, there are hundreds of tickets written to vendors, and several hundred arrests. Yet thousands of vendors continue to operate in an underground marketplace, selling a wide variety of food and merchandise on the sidewalks of Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, a more comprehensive legal framework is required to effectively address sidewalk vending... An effective regulatory system has the potential to protect health and increase public safety and economic activity. Such a policy should also consider the rights and investments of brick-and-mortar businesses, including opportunities to expand and promote their businesses through street vending and with the overall goal of enhancing economic growth and the viability of neighborhoods."
Articles from the LA Times and LA StreetsBlog offer more coverage of activity generated around the City Council motion to legalize sidewalk food vending. The Los Angeles Food Policy Council is a member of the Los Angeles Street Vendor Campaign. You can track the campaign's progress on their website.
Food Day 2013: A Day of Food Policy Action
The Los Angeles Food Policy Council brought together around 150 food system advocates to celebrate Food Day 2013. City officials and leaders took a stand for advancing food policies that promote equitable access to healthy, fresh food and sustainable, food abundant neighborhoods across LA.
"The Not-Completely-Comprehensive Summary of Some Food Policy Actions in Sacramento, Circa 2013"
By Matthew Sharp, Senior Advocate at California Food Policy Advocates and LAFPC Leadership Board Member
Lawmakers and the Governor took numerous important actions to improve the lives of Los Angeles eaters and food chain workers, including enacting AB 60 (drivers licenses for immigrants) and AB 10 (raising the minimum wage 25% to $10/hour). Critical food policy victories included the Governor's signature on AB 191 (streamlining CalFresh eligibility for Medi-Cal participants) and AB 551 (allowing local governments to incentivize urban agriculture). Experts also expect that this year's significant expansions in providing health insurance and major reinvestment in schools will generate valuable, indirect benefits for food policy by increasing families' self-sufficiency and freeing up resources to purchase Good Food. Numerous important proposals to tax sodas, enhance oversight of farmers' markets, tighten oversight of pesticides and farm labor were not enacted into law; many of these, as well as new food policy initiatives, will be considered anew in January. More resources and details are available at cfpa.net. And, stay tuned for the release of the CA Food Policy Council's comprehensive report on food systems legislation at rootsofchange.org.
United Nations Report: More Small-Scale, Local Farms are Needed
In September 2013, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released the Trade and Environment Review 2013, subtitled, "Wake up before it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate." In order to address world's future food needs, the report calls for a greater focus on small-scale, locally-based farms that employ sustainable growing practices. Read the report in its entirety on unctad.org.
INTERVIEW
Phil McGrath: Owner of McGrath Family Farm
In November, LAFPC Leadership Board member Phil McGrath of McGrath Family Farms received the 2013 Excellence in Agricultural Stewardship and Sustainability Award from the Resource Conservation District of Ventura County. Phil’s family has been farming their land in Camarillo for four generations, starting in the 1860s. Below is an except from our interview with Phil, about what's happening on his farm, and his perspective on organic farming in the Oxnard Plains.
What are the challenges of owning and running an organic farm? What are the rewards?
Farming off the southern Californian coast is the best. We've got a lot of diversity on the 40 acres we're currently farming. We rotate between vegetables, flowers, legumes (which are nitrogen-fixing) and cover crop when we can to keep the soil healthy. I hope to put in some coastal fruit trees in the future. Because we're an organic farm, insects can be a problem, but using soaps and oils for insect control is still less expensive than commercial pesticides. We have a large family of animals that help out on the farm too. The chickens give us eggs, the guinea fowls roam our fields eating insects, and the geese act as my personal guard dogs, honking whenever they see anyone getting too close to my personal space! But even farming in paradise has its challenges.
Land access is a huge issue, not just for organic farmers in the area. My ancestors farmed over 5,000 acres. But as the family grew, our land was divided up for successive generations, so each piece got smaller and smaller. Over the last fifty years we’ve lost over 400 acres to eminent domain. Currently, 85% of the family’s land is leased to Reiter Bros., a large berry company growing strawberries and raspberries, the number 1 and number 2 crops in the county. The monthly rental income we get helps with farm costs. Half of our farmland is under an ag reserve created in 1995 called SOAR (Save our Ag Resources). The other half is in an urban reserve (created in 1983) with the City of Camarillo. Both of these designations were created with very little choice from us. We have been stewards of the land for a long time. Population pressure has obviously put lots of pressure on the farm for development. What’s most rewarding for me to see, is the agricultural values go up quicker than the development values. Maybe someday communities will realize farmland is as, if not more, valuable than commercial property. The future will tell. Demand local and organic, and eat what’s in season. That’s the best thing you can do to create and save sustainable farmland in Southern California.
Like most farms, my biggest cost is labor. Harvesting is the highest labor cost for most farmers, but because I don’t use herbicides, weeding and cultivation costs are just as high...
