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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04012008 - D.2 ------ ntra TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CO .-. -- - ' FROM: SUPERVISOR MARY N. PIEPHO g1 s Costa SUPERVISOR JOHN GIOIA os ------ ~' County DATE: MARCH 25, 2008A CO SUBJECT: BUY FRESH, BUY LOCAL SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 1. DIRECT the County's Agriculture and Health Services Departments to work with the County's Agricultural Task Force to develop a food purchasing policy that maximizes the use of locally grown, fresh foods at the County hospital and other appropriate facilities or programs. 2. DIRECT the Agriculture and Health Services Departments, and the Agricultural Task Force to work with local farming groups to develop or expand existing distribution systems to deliver local agricultural products to consumers throughout the county. Consider making county facilities available for such distribution as appropriate. Identify ways of working with existing distribution efforts such as the Farm 2 Kids Program operated by the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. 3. SUGGEST that the Health Services Department and Cooperative Extension integrate the value of locally grown, fresh foods into existing education curricula. 4. DIRECT the Agricultural Task Force to work with local farmers and farTip groups to develop a teaching program in schools and county facilities, which allows farmir sonnel to make connections with children in urban areas to understand the value of Firown food and farm products. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: ❑ YES SI ATUR . ❑ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ❑ ECOM ATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE ❑APPROVE ❑ OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON fiVA / �0 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER PaA--3-li VOTE OF SUPERVISORS: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND A UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTESTED: APRIL 1, 2008 Contact: JOHN CULLEN, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVI RS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR cc: By: Deputy Page 2 5. DIRECT the Agriculture and Health Services Departments, and Cooperative Extension, to provide a preliminary report and recommendations back to the Supervisors at the June 3, 2008 Board meeting. 6. DECLARE the month of June, "Contra Costa County Buy Fresh, Buy Local" Food Awareness Month and showcase locally grown produce and value added products at the June 3rd Board meeting and at other county functions as appropriate. BACKGROUND Contra Costa is facing a public health crisis with the epidemics of childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Almost two-thirds of Contra Costa adults are either overweight or obese, and among low-income preschoolers, obesity has tripled in the last 30 years. Lack of access to healthy foods and sedentary behaviors contribute to these statistics. Some urban neighborhoods lack adequate access to healthy food, particularly fresh fruits and vegetables. Many children do not know where their food comes from or how it is grown. Many families lack the knowledge to choose healthy foods. Countless children have never been to a farm, met a farmer, nor eaten a tomato fresh from the vine. At the same time, our family farmers are struggling to survive economically. Despite our efforts to preserve prime agricultural land, the number of farms in Contra Costa County has dropped twenty-five percent in the past five years. We can work together to meet these challenges by developing connections between our cities and our farms. The Richmond Children's Foundation and the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust (BALT) have begun to work to create connections between Richmond residents and local farmers. We can work together to meet these challenges by developing connections between our cities and our farms: • Bring the extraordinary fruits and vegetables grown in our County directly to our urban residents through farm-to-school programs, farm stands, farmers markets, local hospitals and senior citizen centers. • Support our farmers by creating new urban markets for the food they grow and supporting their efforts to market locally grown, fresh agricultural products directly to county residents, keeping our food dollars in our County. • Continue to preserve the prime farmland in East County as a valuable resource where our farmers can grow fresh, healthy and locally grown food for the residents of our County. • Develop programs that allow our urban children to experience first hand their neighboring farms, learn how their food is grown and meet their farmers. We've already begun to build a food community in Contra Costa County through the following efforts: • Eco Village Farm operates a small farm and farm stand that bring local produce from East County to inner city communities in Richmond. • Verde and Dover Elementary Schools in Richmond have school/community gardens and would like to develop farm-to-school programs. • Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust is working with farmers and the County to (i) preserve agricultural land (ii) develop agricultural zoning and permitting that allows farmers to market directly to their neighbors, and (iii) create a distribution hub so that urban institutional purchasers of local produce will have a single point of ordering, distribution and billing. • The Richmond Children's Foundation and the "5% Local Coalition" has begun to work to create connections between Richmond residents and local farmers. Page 3 The Board recommends this item be referred to the County's Health Services and Agriculture, and Cooperative Extension Departments for review and return to the Board with a preliminary report and recommendations in 60 days. Simultaneously, we ask the Agricultural Advisory Task Force to evaluate how we can build a coalition of farmers, farm groups and other interested groups and individuals to assist us in implementing this program. The Board recognizes that County Departments may need to secure grant funding in order to fully implement these recommendations. RE QUEST TO SPEAK FORM (3 Minute Limit) I wish to sneak on Allenda Item#: Complete this form and place it in the upright box near the Date: speaker's podium, and wait to be called by the Chair. My comments will be: ❑ General Personal information is optional. This speaker's card will be incorporated into the public record of this meeting. Ix For Name(PRINT): I J 11M �— ❑ Against To ensure your name is announced correc y,you may want to include its phonetic spelling ❑ I sh to speak on the subject of: Address: City: 4M Phone: 75 q- I am speaking for: ❑ Myself I� Organization: ❑ I do not want to speak but would like to 4L_A -�l�eave comments for the Board to consider ��04a the back of this form) ADDENDUM to D.2 April 1, 2008 On this day the Board considered directing the Health Services and Agriculture Departments to work with the County Agricultural Task Force and local farming groups to develop or expand existing distribution systems to deliver local agricultural products to consumers throughout the County, and to take related actions. Supervisor Piepho asked the Board for their support to declare the month of June, "Contra Costa County Buy Fresh, Buy Local" Food Awareness Month, to benefit farmers and provide education to the County' community and children. (Please see Board Order for further details), Supervisor Gioia said he looks forward in moving this Board Order along, and requested the Agriculture and Health Services Departments, and Cooperative Extension, to provide a preliminary report and recommendations back to the Supervisors at the June 3, 2008 Board meeting. Supervisor Uilkema encouraged the Task Force to arrange a bus trip for second and third grade students to see a live farm and all the amenities to it. She offered the services of her office for the trip. The Chair called for public comment on the matter. The following persons provided testimony: 1. Lyddan, Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust, thanked the Board for considering this proposal, and expressed her concern about the County being faced with a public health crisis with the epidemic of childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease; 2. Lindsay Johnson, Food Bank of Contra Costa County and Solano County, informed the Board she supports the efforts of publicizing local agriculture; 3. Tracey Rattray, Health Services Department, told the Board she supports this program; and 4. Jim Beckett, Richmond Children's Foundation, told the Board anytime the County has looked regionally they have done great things. He offered the Board his resources. By an unanimous vote, with Supervisor Bonilla absent the Board accepted all the 6 recommendations on the Board Order. ADDENDUM to D.2 April 1, 2008 On this day the Board considered directing the Health Services and Agriculture Departments to work with the County Agricultural Task Force and local farming groups to develop or expand existing distribution systems to deliver local agricultural products to consumers throughout the County, and to take related actions. Supervisor Piepho asked for the Board's support in declaring the month of June 2008 as "Contra Costa County Buy Fresh, Buy Local"Food Awareness Month, to benefit farmers and provide education to the County' community and children. Supervisor Gioia requested the Agriculture and Health Services Departments and Cooperative Extension provide a preliminary report and recommendations to the Board at the June 3, 2008 meeting. Supervisor Uilkema encouraged the Task Force to arrange a bus trip for second- and third-grade students to see a live farm and all the amenities. She offered the services of her office in planning the trip. The Chair called for public comment on the matter. The following persons provided testimony: Lyddan, Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust, thanked the Board for considering this proposal and expressed her concern about the County being faced with a public health crisis with the epidemic of childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease; 1. Lindsay Johnson, Food Bank of Contra Costa County and Solano County, informed the Board she supports the efforts of publicizing local agriculture; 2. Tracey Rattray, Health Services Department, told the Board she supports this program; and 3. Jim Beckett, Richmond Children's Foundation, told the Board any time the County has looked regionally they have done great things. He offered the Board his resources. By an unanimous vote, with Supervisor Bonilla absent, the Board accepted all the 6 recommendations on the Board Order.