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In response to the double blow of the pandemic and the Uri winter storm, the city council passed a resolution at its June 10 session aimed at strengthening the city’s food system and supporting local agriculture.
“During the pandemic, one of the first impacts that I believe became publicly worrying was … the disruption of our food system,” said Councilor Kathie Tovo, who supported the resolution. “When we faced the February 2021 weather emergency, we were once again very much reminded of the fragility and inequalities in our systems, including the real power of a natural disaster to disrupt food security for anyone affected by the storm.”
One way to strengthen the food system highlighted in the resolution is to produce more food locally. The resolution instructs the city administrator to draw up a list of city-owned land that could be used for food production using traditional agriculture as well as new techniques such as vertical farming, hydroponics and aeroponics, or through non-agricultural uses such as cold stores. Slaughterhouses and markets.
The resolution also initiates the creation of a comprehensive plan for the Austin / Travis County’s food system. A local council oversees the planning by those involved and the employees of the city and the district. Regardless of the comprehensive plan, the city will conduct a food insecurity assessment, specifically focusing on the needs of the homeless.
The resolution deals with the most practical consideration: how to finance the work. While the council has already pledged to spend $ 3 million from the US food insecurity bailout stimulus package – money that could be used to advance the resolution’s goals – the resolution opens the door to sources of funding, including bond funding.
Detailed recommendations from the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board, which was approved by the council, provided much of the content of the resolution.
City Manager Spencer Cronk will be rolling out an update on the Food System Plan in August, including the time the final version will be ready.
Councilors say addressing the food system is becoming increasingly important in a changing climate. “We know that our food systems are very vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said Tovo.
The extensive development is also damaging the local food system by eating up what is left of local agriculture. “In the past 11 years, Travis County has lost 25 percent of its arable land, ranks second in the state after arable land that has been lost to development,” the board noted in its recommendations. To reverse this trend, the board recommended that the city consider agriculture as the best use for city-owned land with a USDA award for prime farmland.
Councilor Vanessa Fuentes said the resolution “puts us on this path” to fully address food insecurity. “Food deserts have been around for far too long in our community, and especially in the Eastern Crescent,” she said. “It’s not okay to have families who don’t know where their next meal is coming from.”
The Food Committee’s recommendations to tackle food insecurity include more funding for food banks and similar organizations, additional city staff dealing with food insecurity, continued rental subsidies and, finally, the creation of a food systems division.
“It’s not easy,” wrote the board of directors. “It takes time, money, and a high level of transparency and accountability. It was needed before Covid-19, and that need is now heightened and urgent. “
Photo made available under a Creative Commons license.
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