eNEWS
September 2009 > Gainesville residents encouraged to voice their food access concerns at September meetings
Florida Organic Growers encourages Gainesville residents to let their voices be heard Sept. 21 and Sept. 29 at "Your Community, Your Food" meetings. The meetings will explore how we ensure, as a community, that everyone has access to healthy food, and how those efforts can support a sustainable local economy. The Alachua County Library Headquarters in downtown Gainesville will host the first meeting 6-8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is hosting the second meeting 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29. The Fellowship is located at 4225 NW 34th St. in Gainesville.
The meetings are part of FOG's Community Food Planning Project focused on improving food access for low-income Gainesville residents. The project's inclusive and collaborative planning process will assist in discovering how aspects of Gainesville’s local food system could be developed and improved. A Community Food Survey and public meetings will attempt to discern the food insecurity in various areas of Gainesville and what residents feel should be done to improve the situation. The results of the assessment and meetings will guide working groups as they develop a Local Food Action Plan.
FOG's efforts are supported by a USDA Community Food Planning Grant, one of many USDA programs that support the development of local, sustainable food systems. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan wrote a memo Aug. 26 titled “Harnessing USDA rural development programs to support local and regional food systems” that focused on three other USDA programs that can fund projects to improve a local food system, the Community Facilities Program, The Business Industry Guarantee Loan Program and The Value-Added Producer Grant Program. Kerrigan states in the memo, "Imagine an NGO receiving USDA grant money to construct a community kitchen where farmers drop off produce and families join cooking classes that teach about healthy eating while everyone prepares fresh nutritious meals to bring home…Imagine a community using USDA money to construct an open-sided structure to house a farmers market…Imagine a school using USDA loan money to set up cold storage as part of a larger effort to retrofit the school cafeteria to buy produce directly from farmers and return cooking capacity for school lunch…Imagine…" FOG expects the results of the Community Food Planning Project to provide the necessary data to support future proposals to those USDA programs to support the development of local food systems in Alachua County.
For more information about FOG's Community Food Planning Project call 352.377.6345, email fog@foginfo.org or visit www.foginfo.org/usdacommfood.
RESOURCES
FOG Community Food Planning Project
FOG Community Food Survey
Memo from U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan