City of Bloomington, Indiana Facebook Live Town Halls, 16 Jan 2019

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From YouTube: Facebook Live Town Hall: Year Of Food

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January 16, 2019

2019 is the Year of Food in the City of Bloomington!
The City of Bloomington Economic & Sustainable Development department is launching a series of actions to increase access to healthy, local food in the community, connect local growers to local institutional consumers, and raise awareness and enhance engagement around food insecurity, local services and local producers.

Our panel included:
John Hamilton, Mayor of Bloomington
Yael Ksander, Communications Director for the City of Bloomington
Autumn Salamack, Assistant Director of Sustainability for the City of Bloomington
Jodee Ellett, Community Engagement Coordinator for the IU Sustainable Food Systems Science Initiative.
Steve Thomas, the Self-Sufficiency Center Program Director from Monroe County United Ministries
Ryan Conway, Chair of the Bloomington Food Policy Council and board secretary of the Center for Sustainable Living

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Good afternoon I'm yael ksander communications director for the city of.

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Bloomington, thank you for joining us for another town hall, discussion from city.

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Hall, where we are recognizing 2019 as the year of food, that's something we can.

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All get behind food is a discussion at this time of year. We may have indulged.

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Something but over the holidays, they need to cut back, but this year we're.

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Seeing a little different picture, if you're listening to the news, you may.

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Have heard about federal workers in washington standing in food lines, trying.

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To get a meal and haven't been paid in weeks, or maybe the government shutdown.

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Is affecting farmers subsidies or those who depend on snap benefits to put food.

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On the table, so many of us in one of the world's wealthiest countries are just a.

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Paycheck or a government action away from food security, so we'll talk today.

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About that very fragile food network and the local effort to make it more.

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Resilient right here, but to address hunger and to boost the local and.

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Regional economy joining the conversation today we have a lively.

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Group, starting with mayor john hamilton, also the city's assistant director of.

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Sustainability autumn salamack and several members of the iu and the bloomington.

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Community who have partnered in this initiative the year of food for 2019, so.

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I'll introduce everyone in just a second, but starting with the mayor and autumn.

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Tell us where the idea for the year of food came from and what its goals are so.

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Look, let me first of all you guys y'all, look comfortable your kinda tight in there.

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We got a cosy crew here on the couch we'll hear from you know,.

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Bloomington has been a community that cares a lot about sustainability right.

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For four years, my administration last three years, we've cared a lot about.

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Sustainability and we think about that from the three legs items tax has the.

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First, chair of the commission on sustainability for the city, many moons.

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Ago and you think about the environment and sustainable environment that our.

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Community lives in a way that we protect the environment, enhance it make it a.

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Sustainable engagement and relationship to the environment, the economy is a.

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Second leg that our that our economy is a sustainable economy, it has these all.

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Linked together, it is has positive impact over the long haul and then the.

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Equity, stool of trying to make sure, as in our community, that we are sustainably.

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Protecting justice and fairness and equity and things, and it's interesting.

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To me, food kind of hits all of that right. It kind of is one of these things.

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That orbits, in all of those areas from the economy, to the environment, to equity,.

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And so this idea of your food came in autumn can share the details, but we have.

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Our first real adopted detailed sustainability plan for the city, which.

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Fantastic work from autumn and the wider community dozen scores with people who.

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Help do that and you kind of grab chapter four. I guess right food for for.

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2019 and who doesn't like food, but it's it's a powerful integrator of thinking.

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About all three of those things at once to me, and so I appreciate what you're.

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Doing yeah, thank you yeah. I think exactly right and we have been looking.

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At food and looking at how we can really bring chapter 4, the sustainability.

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Action plan to life, so we worked with community partners, including all three.

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Of our guests today over the series of two months to really talk about where.

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The challenges and opportunities were within the community related to sort of.

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Environmental, social and economic elements of our food system- and we.

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Identified three goals for the community related to increasing healthy access to.

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Local healthy food for everybody, so equitable access to resources across the.

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Community, looking at increasing the amount of food that's produced in.

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Gardens of any type and then lastly, increasing economic opportunities to.

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Better connect our local growers with institutional buyers, so we thought about.

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This year of food as a way to really kickstart that conversation and really.

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Amplify the existing efforts that are already taking place within the.

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Community, through a lot of great organizations and social service.

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Providers, but to really help communicate to our constituents. You know what does.

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Equitable access to food look like how are we working on it as a community and.

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How can we do better and what are some of those underlying issues associated.

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With it food insecurity and then, secondly, how can we really try to.

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Improve economic sustainability for our local growers and our food system and.

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How can we really try to build that so, yes, it's been a kind of a conversation.

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Going on for a while, but we're really excited to kick this off and and to also.

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Do some like education and outreach to the community have some special events.

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Throughout the year to really talk about our food system and food, waste reduction.

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A number of exciting we're doing all this without food in front of us, though,.

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Well, so it's a big job, coordinating all the goals and projects of this year of food.

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Initiative that job is going to be that of the value chain.

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Coordinator now this position, which hasn't yet been hired, but it's in the.

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Process right now is partly funded through a us department of agriculture.

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Grant on which another of our guests was the lead. That's jodee ellett to my left.

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Here the community engagement person with the iu, sustainable food.

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Systems: science initiative: that's a mouthful. Tell us a little bit about the.

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Origins of this grant why you thought that value chain coordinator was going.

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To bring the pieces of this puzzle together, yeah. Thank you.

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So ryan, over I'll pass it down there from the bloomington food policy council.

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They've done some work looking at what what would help a food in front economy.

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In the bloomington area and had an intern for my use or look at these.

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Various options of a food innovation, district, a food hub or this concept of a.

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Value chain coordinator in that idea of putting someone in the food system to.

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Start building this network to strengthen a network is something that.

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The usda was exploring with the wallace center as a public-private partnership.

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Research program nationally, and so I talked with them and then we started.

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Talking for the city- and I also do some other partners in indiana who wanted to.

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Explore this idea as well, so this grant is through the usda.

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Promotion program grant and it really wants to focus that grant the the spirit.

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Of the grant focuses on the supply chain and really building the capacity in the.

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Supply chain to make local regional food systems happen for consumers in those.

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Local in those little cows, and so what is it in the food system? One of the.

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Missing parts one of them was the missing knowledge. What are the missing.

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Activities, what can we put together to increase the economic activity around.

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This and so there will be four value team where the years is to be. Has one.

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And so it's an interesting concept, so the city probably doesn't buy a lot of.

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Food right and the nineteen nineties are you right exactly so, who are the players.

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In town that do buy a lot of food and we need to think creatively about our.

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Buyers there you know one of our large public institutions, our county school.

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School system and some towns actually run the city based school systems and so.

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How can we model the type of activities that can be replicable in other.

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Locations not just in indiana but in the west and sort of an environment where we.

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Have a lot of agriculture: we have a lot of access to agricultural lands, farmers.

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May be looking for new options for diversification. Consumers are looking.

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For different options: sort of driving change in the food system, and so how can.

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This sort of put all those pieces of the puzzle into place while increasing that.

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Supply of local and regional food stuffs into the system. So really that's an.

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Accurate imagine right in those days, so the tutor aspires local rice and I'm.

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Sorry to step on you, we we have such valuable.

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Here in this room, let me introduce our other discussion members at.

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This point steve thomas here, is the self-sufficiency center program director.

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From monroe county, united ministries and then on the far end of the sofa, there is.

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Ryan conway the board secretary for the center for sustainable living, which runs.

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To the winter farmers market, by the way and the chair of the bloomington food.

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Policy council now you've been in in charge over leaving the the statewide.

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Food policy network is that correct, and so it sounds like we already have a.

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Pretty good system as a base is that is that correct to kind of launch this next.

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Level of connectedness, I think, that's correct, and I think that you know the.

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Base, especially in terms of the food policy council, could only be the only be.

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Stronger the more partners we bring it to the table, you know the stronger we're going to get the more initiatives. We can run the more programs we can launch, but I also wanted to say that what's brilliant about.

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Bringing in a food value chain coordinator is that it shifts of focus.

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To what we already have bloomington is a third city. We've been a food city for a.

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Long time you mean the center for sustainable living was running a food project for 20 years 1998 to 2009 getting food from hoosier hills, food.

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Bank to two families that needed it, but so you know we started this idea and we.

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Had an intern for the summer, things to go, grab them off of sustainability and.

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We put around like skunk works projects like what's like the hardest thing you.

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Can imagine doing like an infrastructure project like a food hub but build this.

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Place well, but it turns out that that actually would have been a bad.

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Investment at the time, because what we have a lot of is resources here and now.

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So we need social infrastructure, we have so many vivified active players in this.

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Community that someone going around connecting the pieces of that web can.

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Give us what we need to launch all sorts of projects and maybe get us to a place.

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If we need it have something like a food hub in the.

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Future or a food innovation district, but right now we have so many good things.

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Going on right right here that just someone to piece this all together, it's.

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Just it's a brilliant. You know social infrastructure you're using some terms.

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That might be new to people food hub. What does that actually mean and also.

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Food innovation, district sure so they're kind of the same thing, but not and I'll.

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Explain that briefly, so, basically, a food hub aggregates either producers like.

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Local produce or value-added products to local produce and creates a central.

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Distribution point either for retailers or sometimes they can incorporate.

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Wholesale and then a food innovation district is like a city district like.

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Like the bloomington arts district, but it focuses on giving incentives to local.

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Food businesses to come and congregate there maybe share resources, etc. So.

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Essentially, a food innovation district is a food hub, but writ large over a.

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Larger area, larger space, more buildings involved in tax incentives, this kind of.

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Thing, whereas a food hub is more just like a distributions and applications.

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Center, I remember we talked about a food hub.

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And I've been really interested in dac tyler. I learned about that. That idea.

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That you're connecting you know the supply and the demand, but it is.

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Interesting that we've kind of migrated said that's not the right thing to start.

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With, as you said, we have so much going on right now. Don't spend our money to.

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Build and youth at least till we figure out.

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Maybe we don't need it. Maybe not. No. I'm excited that. It's you know just as.

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Really smart people think about how to make this. How make this happen? That's a.

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Good thing: well, we do have this intense food.

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Culture here people- I remember, a cartoon that someone had their refrigerator, that.

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Said something like face: it marge you're, an arugula gal in an iceberg town. Well, I.

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Think we're in a rouble town but then there's the other and the spectrum there.

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Lots of people who struggle to put food on the table, maybe steve you- can tell us.

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More about the need in our community sure, from your perspective in the north.

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County united ministries right so our monroe county men, administration, makam.

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Is a nonprofit that deals with food insecurity is among other issues and.

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That's that's big! That's what I'm doing here today. So I can speak to some of.

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That poverty rate in monroe county- you see it between 20 and 25 percent and a.

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Lot of people are quick to jump and point out that the hey that includes our student population, which is true, but I would challenge the assumption that.

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Those students are food, insecure. We have crimson cupboard, which is a food.

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Pantry that opened primarily to serve I used to be on campus just last year.

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Crimson crimson not a mecca program, totally independent, but in any case and.

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Also, college students aren't eligible for snap benefits. Most of them are so.

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Yep snaps, oh snap, its supplemental nutrition assistance program is federal.

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It's used to be food, stamps, formerly known as food stamps and even presently.

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Most people colloquially still call it food stamps so anyway, 20 to 25 percent.

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Poverty, the united way, puts out the community needs assessment about every.

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Ten years so the most recent one they did was in 2012 and the findings from.

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That found that 42 percent of survey respondents reported that running out of.

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Money end of each month to cover essential needs was either a major or a minor concern.

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It's about split halfway down between major and minor, so again, 42%. That's.

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Almost half of the people in our community and they're responding that.

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It's essential means at the end of the month, so we're talking about shelter and.

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Food and utilities, transportation very basic stuff, so food security definitely.

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More widespread than than you might think at mccombs we operate a food.

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Pantry we serve about 225 families a month. We would serve many more if we had.

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Enough supply to do more, our pantry is restricted to one visit per month.

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Although there are other great pantries in town that mother hubbard's cupboard a.

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Retail aging that are more frequent than that of those families about 85 percent.

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Live below 30 percent of area, median income, and so in bloomington just to.

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Give you an idea area, median income for an individuals about $42,000 for a.

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Family of four it's about $60,000, so 30% of those numbers is scary, low, we're.

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Talking about $13,000 for an individual per year or for a family of four less.

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Than 19,000, so if you can raise a family of four on $19,000 or less its its 1500.

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A month before taxes, so 85% of our clients in those income brackets the.

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Dominant narrative about those families is that that they are not working, that.

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They're poor or that they're reaching you know off of that they're lazy. I.

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Should most of our families are working there to be mean they're all right.

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Exactly yeah the assumptions about those families that are wrong, the reality is.

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That most of the families who come to us actually are working and they're working.

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In in retail and in grocery and they're driving, their grew burgers and they're.

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Waiting, your tables and they're providing home health care for your.

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Loved ones they're doing really important jobs in this community, but.

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They're doing it for less than $10 an hour, and so so that's something that you.

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Know it has to be fluctuating our. They have difficult schedules in terms.

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Of child care and transportation, maybe working different shifts and no benefits.

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Oftentimes and so that's where that money doesn't stretch and that's why.

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Food insecurity: it's a symptom of these other bigger problems that we sort of.

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Have to address we're gonna work on food insecurity. So how does this role.

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How does strengthening the growing economy, for example, growers and.

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Producers, how does that making that strong and resilient? How does that help.

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Those folks who are struggling to put this you know how do you make that.

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Connection yeah, I think, there's potential for additional job creation.

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Through a stronger local food economy, I will also say, though, the value chain.

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Coordinator would be focusing specifically on that economic element.

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And the secondary aspect looking at an include equity and it's a smaller.

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Sources and underlying insecurity that would be outside of the.

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Value chain coordinators, purview but it'll be a very important piece. So.

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They're they're sort of parallel paths moving forward to address two different.

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Issues, one of the things that we'll be looking at is where we have food deserts.

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In our community, the usda says that we have two food deserts in a food desert.

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For those who didn't, that term is new, what does that mean.

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A food desert is an area where at least 20% of the residents live in poverty and.

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More than 33% live more than a mile from a supermarket in an urban area, so we.

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Have two designated areas, one is. I do campus pravinia seasons right where.

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Students aren't earning an income, and the second one includes the broad view.

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Southern town- excuse me: southern kinds: some flower, gardens, rockport hills and evergreen village; neighborhoods the ludington food.

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Policy councils also done some additional research and identified crestline, reverend reverend butler, walnut woods, maple heights and broad.

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View as being population with that particular risk for food insecurity, so.

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Yes, we're looking at how we can you know, sort of bringing in local food to the.

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Local large institutional buyers, but also looking at how do we make access to.

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Food in general, any type of food more available and more readily available in.

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Some of these target neighborhoods, where we know, there's credible property and we.

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Have far distances travel to get to institution that might.

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Be selling fresh virtual goods right and they think that's that's a really key.

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Thing to point out the suit of two parallel pads: you have this macro.

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Approach we're looking at the food systems and the supply chain and how how.

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We can get more local, fresh food into our community and then we're also.

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Looking at the micro level and looking at what how consumers make choices, what.

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Choices are actually available to consumers and for the people that we see.

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In the population that we work with, those choices are severely restricted by.

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A lot of the other factors that that I sort of alluded to in the last, so it's.

G

Good to acknowledge that there are those two realities that you're trying to work on. You have to sort of do it. At the same time, steve you made a great comment earlier before we went live about how you would.

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Like to bring options to the table, healthier options right right now, the.

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Way that the economy works and the way that the fast-food words and our system.

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You know it because of subsidies, etcetera, you can get a mcdonald's.

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Hamburger, that's gonna, fill you up or any company's hamburger sure it's gonna.

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Fill you up for a dollar and given how little time we have how.

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Little money we have etc. We're gonna go for that. You said why can't a kale and.

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Quinoa rancher be equally accessible. I think there's this dream scenario that.

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That's about sort of alluding to or if you put those two plates in front of.

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Somebody and all things equal, you know, there's no work to put into either one.

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It's just you're serving them, but the consumer preference that is sort of.

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Behavior change that we're looking for to get people to choose the thing on the.

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Right of the kale and quinoa, rather as opposed to the hamburger, that's sort of.

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A separate issue, then, how those two things get to be equal choices in front.

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Of people in the first place, and so if people don't have the ability to make.

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That, if that choice, is an illusion that it doesn't matter what their preference.

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Would be restricted by other and that that's a limit. We just can't.

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Ignore we can't we can't start to work on people's consumer preferences until.

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We stabilize their financial reality and also make the production of quinoa and.

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Kale maybe easier and not specialty crops. I guess the whole monica lecturer.

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And everything is me yeah, that's the expertise of the folks on my left and.

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Right so right, so instead of isaac, farmers to grow things like kale and.

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Quinoa right isn't that part of what we're talking about yeah having strong.

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Markets for farmers is always something that factors into their decision when.

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Making change and so the more the stronger markets we can create.

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Especially through the value chain coordinator position, we're talking about.

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Farmers of scale we're looking at wholesale generally, you know wholesale.

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Prices are not farmers, market prices and so you're, adding a mix of product into.

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The market, but it's not just fruits and vegetables but locally grown food stuffs.

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That are grown at enough scale, where you're starting to get to the prices.

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Where consumers can can manage better and to your point and an auto spoink, the.

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Terminology around the food desert is shifted a little into something more, but.

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It's called healthy food access and there's actually a national mapping.

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Website for healthy food access and the reason we have these issues with healthy.

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Food access is, we may have a hundred and five retailers that accept snap in our.

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Community, but only a few of them are actually brochures with healthy food and.

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So you have pharmacies, convenience stores that are accepting snap and.

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People are doing food shopping there. Well, if you've ever looked at.

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Prices of you know your snap dollars. First of all go very far. That's not.

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Buying healthy food, and so that the consolidation in the food industry, where.

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We've seen march closures, all over indiana we've seen. Basically, if a.

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Grocery store is not making enough profit in an area, and this is fairly.

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Affects small rural towns don't pose and when those folks are shoe stores, clothes.

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That takes all the healthy food access with it. It also creates food deserts and.

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So communities are using really creative solutions to figure out what to do in.

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Terms of bringing food making food available to people where grocery stores.

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Them no longer exist and so that it's convenient with the time schedules. It's.

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Convenient with appropriate, culturally appropriate food are we actually giving.

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People, the types of foods they want to buy and cook it home and with all those.

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Considerations and that's the thing about affordability: we need to talk.

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About there's the raw cost of the items that you that you have, but there's also.

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These other building costs that we don't necessarily think about. On the surface.

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Like the amount of time that it takes to prepare something at home or the energy.

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That it takes after you've worked two jobs and you're coming home late at night. You also talk about the it takes dishes, it takes pots and pans. It takes.

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Kitchen utensils, it takes a functioning kitchen, which means you're able to pay.

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Your electricity in your utility bill you have to play in a kitchen to cook it.

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In so you have to be able to pay your rent, so all of those sort of added costs.

G

It seems ridiculous to kind of point those out, but at my agency every day.

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We're working with people who do not have those things and so we're that's.

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Part of what our programs do is is connect people to those kinds of.

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Resources that they're lacking, but to ask somebody, you know here's a bag of.

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Raw rice, with no instructions you're going to go home and make this on their own, that presumes that they kitchen they have pots and pans. They.

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Haven't time to cook it their kids will he did. I mean there's there's a lot of.

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Presumptions there right and that's why you can't make choices for people you.

G

Just have to make those choices easier for people to make. I mean, makes a couple.

B

Points to get your reaction to one is actually in a book. I'm looking at right.

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Here I'm gonna reach over kind of about bloomington that this book I love the.

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Title of this book- small gritty and green, because what it talks about the.

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Promise of america's smaller industrial cities in a low-carbon world, and it does.

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Remind us that this city, like not unique, but we have, we have this history of.

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Industry, we have a, we have the infrastructure of water system and roads.

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And transportation and sidewalks and a bus system and stuff, and we also have.

B

Agriculture not far from us and the ability to move food in and out a lot.

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Different from an elevator of chicago are these giant metropolis is, and so.

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It's kind of interesting to think about us in that scale, right that we we have.

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This potential that, in the second point, I'd make and just kind of about.

B

Bloomington is we also do have these big institutional buyers like iu, which is.

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Not typical in most cities, most cities do that a school system. We have some big.

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Employers who are large, dominant players in our economy, like a health or cook or.

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Others, insurer, connecting them and working together to say these are. We are.

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Big buyers of food, and how can we go at all three legs of the stool.

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The same issues together is a really big opportunity. I think yeah, it's nice to.

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Explore the options of things like policy and having a sustainability.

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Action plan because you look at a state like illinois and after the great.

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Recession, they passed the food farms of jobs act, which basically said anybody on.

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State funding from illinois must buy 20% illinois food by 2020, so they set a.

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Policy sort of an unfunded mandate to incent to increase that flow of food in.

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Their local economy- and we will see you know in one year- anyways yeah lots of.

C

Food systems, change agents set 2020 as a goal, so it'll be very interesting to see.

C

How these things are coming about, michigan has a lot of effort going on.

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Around that, and so how can you know having in the sustainability plan having.

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Food systems and comprehensive plans. How can policy as well as financial.

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Incentives drive those changes. I I want to remind everyone watching that we are.

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Broadcasting from the city hall today, speaking about the 2019 initiative, the.

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Year of food and we're joined by several city, officials and members.

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Community all working on different pieces of increasing the food equity in.

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Our community and also strengthening the local food economy, we are streaming, live.

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On facebook- and I encourage you to write in with your questions, we do have one.

E

That's just come in from earnest who says you mentioned, receiving a grant.

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It's indeed, how much does the grant is there a local match and if so, how much.

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And how long will the grant last it once maybe reiterated for those who are.

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Joining us, what the grant grant is all about.

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So the the grant- the total- is a little over half a million dollars from the.

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Usda us department of agriculture and it's part of that monies go. There was.

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There's a match requirement for the grant. They want people to have some skin.

C

In the game, when they're awarding these grants and the city of bloomington agreed to go ahead and do that yeah, so our value chain coordinator, the grant is.

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Provided in 22,000 dollars a year for salary and travel and then we're.

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Matching it with $20,000 a year over the course of a three year grant period so.

D

The grant goes until a september of 2021, yes, and so the other half million the.

A

Rest of that path, when I and some that's going to be distributed in one of the.

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Four positions: a couple around the state, so there's the four positions: you're.

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Valuing coordinator positions that are funded for three years, the second part.

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Of that grant is to increase the ability for fruit and vegetable growers to.

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Receive food safety training, because we food safety, modernization act, which is a.

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Larger barrier for bars of fresh fruits and vegetables and our value team.

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Coordinator research that had already gone on found, that is a continual.

C

Stumbling block, so I have that component into the grant and then the third part.

C

Of the grant will be conducted by our partners at korea university in the food.

C

Science department that you will be they fact of anything it will be working on.

C

Building food safety program for users of like kitchen shares or home based.

C

Vendors at the farmers market so that to ensure more food safety in the food.

C

Supply, whether you're, looking at wholesale for retail and using a kitchen.

C

Chair like at one world or you're, reducing for the farmers market under.

C

The home base vendor rules, I competed innovation district, you got a, you got a.

B

Good pretty good work together in this grant. Well, we've talked about need and.

A

We've talked about putting the pieces of the puzzle together. What about the.

A

Farmers, you know, I heard a report just the other day about how dairy farmers in.

A

Indiana, for example, are finding it increasingly difficult to stay in.

A

Business, what's what's life like for the small.

A

Farmer, maybe ryan, you can speak to that and had.

A

You fire yourself what they might. I think she actually had a little bit more.

F

Experience we're just starting out in fayetteville farms in the end of my wife,.

F

And I got a small five acre property just northeast of town, we're very.

F

Excited but generally they didn't get farming experience as well. The farmers.

A

They could deal with say you are bending at the bloomington winter farmers market.

A

Sure, yes, what are they telling you? They? Probably it's probably not entirely.

A

Sustainable to depend on me coming around and buying seven dollars.

A

Worth of turnips every once in a while right, so we're at the point a winter.

F

Farmers market is a long-standing product of the center for sustainable living. It happens december through the last week in march. That's at the harming school and second street by second and.

F

Woodlawn and it features a lot of local vendors and some have value-added.

F

Products, but you know some of the informal chatter that I'll hear from.

F

Some of our farmer, friends, is really that you know most of the time for them.

F

To be able to get a booth to market, somebody has to have a full-time job and.

F

Someone has to run the farm or they both put together a mix of part-time jobs and.

F

Then both collaborating and making a farm work so need to get into farming.

F

Specialty crops, I mean it very much seems to you, have that passion for it.

F

Some insights into it and be willing to bend your life around it, because I don't.

F

Think that the average market farmer is holding down their family.

F

Just through labor love and and then there is also this issue, you talked.

A

About specialty crops- and I think maybe a lot of people would realize that.

E

Growing these unusual things, as opposed to they are children well, as opposed to.

A

These are, unless it's less profitable or or you can barely wear aforementioned.

A

Products like arugula yeah, well jodi, you talked about the scale issues right and.

B

If I use going to start buying lettuce, they're gonna buy a lot of less yeah, so.

C

Here's an example, so, let's say indiana university's buying eighteen thousand.

C

Dollars worth of missus, these are not real numbers, but, let's say they're by.

E

Eighteen thousand dollars worth of lettuce or a three month time period.

C

Even half of that is purchased from a local farmer. That's a nine thousand.

E

Dollar, income for it even a small farm and that's a good sale. That's a really.

C

Good sale for a small farm supplying, you know the majority of product for.

C

Institutions is a scale of farming, that's much bigger and so farming. You.

C

Know just has you, companies of scale like a number of industries, and so.

C

Seeing having new equipment to reduce labor class and to.

C

Efficiency on your farm always improves your bottom line when it comes to.

C

Agriculture and so enabling farmers to have that scale to have stable regional.

C

Markets, sometimes regional large retail buyers can be fickle or you know, let's.

C

Say if you're selling to a certain grocery store retailer, if you didn't.

C

Make ten cases they don't want it at all. So that's really hard. It's don't bring.

B

Me a ten not more than ten, you know, so it's really hard for some farmers and.

C

With weather variability you're, actually you know it's a lot. It's a risky.

B

Business farming, and so you farmers, have the appetite for it and they try and.

C

Minimize risk having stable markets can help. With that a lot I will mention just.

G

Briefly, a sort of connecting food access to some of the things we're talking.

G

About now at the winter farmers market, if there's the food to family fund or.

G

Far to family files, excuse me and they're a local nonprofit, that purchases.

G

Leftover food from the market from from local farmers to local producers and.

G

Then distributes that food to a number of nonprofits around bloomington, such as.

G

Mother hubbard's cupboard community kitchen, and so we are getting some of.

G

That local food we meeting, they are getting some of that local food. That.

G

Otherwise would go on sold to local. You know people who are experiencing food.

G

Insecurity, so it's a great that's a really cool model and it's a great thing.

G

To do they also do snap doubling at the winter farmers market. So that's a way.

G

That folks, with those snap benefits, the the food stamps can stretch that money a.

G

Little further and, of course, it's done at this summer- farmers market in bloomington as well. So that's a really great program. I bet most people don't.

B

Know that yeah yeah it's doubled. You can double your food stamps.

G

Either the winter farmers market or the summer farmers market in bloomington.

G

Which is pretty amazing, the government shutdown like you.

G

Mentioned at the very beginning, is is affecting snap benefits, so folks are.

G

Receiving folks in indiana are receiving their february benefits early they're.

G

Receiving in this week and are expected to budget them out all through the end.

G

Of next month, there's no plan for future distributions. If the shutdown continues.

G

And so that's something I have a platform, so I'm going to navigate for.

G

That so that people know if you are receiving snap benefits- and you see some.

G

Additional funding in your in your balance this week. Those are your.

G

February funds: please watch it, be careful and know that there is no.

G

Certain future about march distributions or anything furthers very scary time.

G

It's 50 million americans that are on snap. So it's that you know farmers may.

A

A

These we have another question from earnest: who's watching us very closely.

A

Thank you ernest who asks how many market farmers do we have in monroe.

A

County, I guess I guess he means how many show up for how many vendors do. We have.

A

It at market, I'm not sure, and how much produce you have to produce to be.

A

Considered a hobby farmers market, but we also have farmers who make their living.

C

From the farmers market, but it's generally not just one farmers market, it.

C

Is multiple farmers markets? It's other channels, its restaurants? It's other.

C

Buyers and so that diversification of markets is really important for the.

C

Small to mid-size farmer, often all those things preserve their farm name, food.

C

Hubs are a great example of a creative supply chain solution that preserves our.

C

Name so that when you see that on your restaurant menu, that's what consumers.

C

Are asking for it's sort of that knowing where their food comes from? Do we know.

B

How many people in monroe county are farmers.

E

I do have that deal and that's that we have a new hank census. The data from.

C

That will probably be a little bit delayed because of the shutdown, but the.

C

Good news is, the farm bill was passed by both the senate and the house in.

C

December insight by the president in december right before the shutdown, so we.

C

Do have a farm bill which is something that needed to get passed in september.

C

And it it does focus on these local markets in terms of subsidies, so we've.

C

Seen a shift in the farm bill, which is for those of you that don't know that is.

B

Our federal food and farm policy every five years, seventy six percent of the.

C

Farm bill expenditures go to snap and food assistance, programs and the rest of.

C

The twenty four percent are going to agricultural related land use programs.

C

And so that piece of legislation is very, very important for how we spend our.

C

Money on policy in america on food and agriculture, and so it really has there's.

C

Really some really positive outcomes. They've established a new office of.

C

Urban agriculture and that recognizes that nationwide urban agriculture is a.

C

Legitimate activity, it's a legitimate part of our food systems and in the.

B

Middie us be a suburban anger. Can how do you define urban agriculture? I mean.

A

Gardens in town or or so they are going to probably focus on commercial, so.

C

Businesses, farm businesses that take place in an urban setting and there.

C

Research and give grants and sort of work with the institutions who want to.

C

Do research, of course, urban agriculture is inherently different because you have.

C

C

Yeah then, the lam program, which is a local agricultural market programs,.

C

That's new lamp program of funding sort of sets the tone for grant funding for.

C

Things like food nutrition incentives, it's nice that a farm bill thanks for.

B

Thanks or do I guess so autumn, can I ask you to I don't know that I would helpful.

B

To hear kind of from the year of food approach, what do you, what do you, what.

B

Looks like a good year if we have a good year of food and we're moving things.

B

Along well, what do you, what does it look like a year from now? How would things be.

B

Different yeah, that's a good question, so I think from on the economic side being.

D

Able to talk to some of our buyers or institutional buyers and see that they.

D

Are making changes and that they are increasing the percentage of locally.

D

Grown food that they are purchasing and incorporating into their businesses. I.

D

Think hearing from farmers that they feel like they are getting better.

D

Connected they're getting more resources to help to make the market ready, seeing.

D

That there is strengthening within that that sector or our economy, that would be.

D

Great, I think, being able to say here are some tangible steps that we are taking.

D

As a community to address food insecurity, we're not.

D

Going to solve food insecurity in a year, but it would be great if everybody in.

D

The community understood what our challenges are, what our opportunities.

D

Are- and we could say, we know that transportation is an issue. We know that.

D

You know in comes our initiative, we know that housing is an issue and here's how.

D

We are taking active steps to address those things. Here's how they're linked.

D

To food security and then from a practical standpoint, looking at our.

D

Sustainability action plan: we have some mixed lines that we need to develop. This.

D

Year to help us really set a bar for how we'll know whether or not we need to.

E

Have danish stuff yeah we have salinas addenda needs we're working with the.

D

Food policy council on establishing some of those baselines so having that done.

D

And then also just looking at every 2019 activity that we identified in the plan.

D

And seeing did we achieve it? Are we making progress and then for actions for.

D

2020 we're going to be starting conversations in the next. You know four.

D

Months about we have these things planned for 2020. How are we going to.

D

Accomplish them, are we getting them included into city budgets into community partner budgets? So I think just having this like robust.

D

Conversation so that it's not a everybody says yes, your food. I.

D

Understand at least one element of what that is yeah. Let me awareness is key.

C

People talking about it, people may be shifting their purchasing decisions so.

C

If we want to shift to a local purchase, you know everybody benefits, so we're.

C

Buying 307 million dollars worth of food in.

C

If we're all every household is shifting, you know five dollars to the farmers.

C

Market, bad lads- I cannot make impact so every just like you can recycle at home.

C

You can recycle at work. You look at the recycling, bins that I you versus your.

C

Home yeah institutions can have a big impact, but so can every single person. So even just talking with your neighbors.

C

Bringing your neighbor to the farmers market if they've never been introducing.

C

Them to the farmers that you buy for having that focus and awareness of your.

E

Food system and that every purchase you're making has an impact in the food.

C

System you you, you make a decision three to four five or how many times you eat a.

E

Day, if you have a choice, and that has an impact on the food.

C

System, I can imagine some people tuning in and saying well what on earth this is.

A

We live in the 21st century, people, that's what mechanization is all about.

A

In technology, I don't have to go out and have a victory garden in my backyard.

A

That's why we have these large subsidiaries that are that are.

A

Distributing food and trucks on the highways right. Why on earth are, we are.

A

We reinventing the wheel here. What is the, what are the you you guys are.

A

Advocating something that sounds like it's from the depression: what what is.

C

This advantageous, I would argue that local food farmers have been innovating.

C

For a very long time and the community supported agriculture model, where you're.

C

Getting vegetables delivered or meat and flowers and anything else delivered.

C

Straight to your door is oh well, that's all really interesting now that amazon.

C

Moves whole foods that local food farmers have been doing it for decades.

C

And that that model that concept, it actually improves eating habits. So we.

C

Oh, that and local food farmers are selling online they've been selling.

C

Online for years, we're just hoping that amazon makes it happen more often, and if.

A

You talk about like the dangers of having sort of these. This consolidation.

A

And you spoke about earlier jeremy: it is there a real risk there in terms of.

A

Having you know, just a few companies in charge of our food distribution in this.

A

Country, well, I think you know anyone interested in choice should be concerned.

C

About anecdotal personal story, we had a fuller going to vortex a few years ago.

C

And I walked in the grocery store and there was literally nothing on the shelf.

C

And after because that, for three days there were trucks that couldn't come in.

C

The house wasn't in bloomington, but you know and that's interesting right. So if.

C

The town is interested in self-sufficiency or being resilient sort.

C

Of diversifying your food portfolio, just like you're sort of told to diversify,.

C

Your investment portfolio, businesses certainly know food businesses actually.

C

Know to diversify, so large food businesses are actually buying smaller.

C

Brands so that they can reach into all these different market channels for.

C

Consumers and so every diversification is sort of key to sustainability, of a.

C

Lot of things so so you're number 300 million, I'm just thinkin. If you had a 1.

B

Percentage point shift in that that's three million dollars new purchase.

B

Locally in organic, I didn't I mean that's nothing. That's would make a big.

B

Difference if a one-percent gypped ships at 10%, thirty million dollars with.

B

Local local food economy- that I mean I as mayor, I do think about these.

B

Sustainability challenges right, if you do have a if you have a disruption of.

B

Food supplies just like energy or water or other things. You really do. We don't.

B

Last long without forget- and you really need to think about what is the.

B

Sustainability model and diversifying our agricultural area within 50 miles of.

B

A certain 12 20 miles or whatever the right number is both of those is.

B

Thinking about that's really important from my perspective, you talk about the.

G

Allowing choice for for folks who are food insecure are our pantry is a client.

G

Choice: pantry, if you believe in that letting people have some control over their diets and restoring that sort of dignity. But if you have this monoculture.

G

System where farmers are growing all of this corn that has to go somewhere so.

G

The government buys it sensitive local food banks, then it ends up in our food.

G

Pantries, and so we actually don't have a lot of control over what foods we offers.

G

And folks, and which means that they don't have a lot of control over what.

G

They're putting in their bodies or what they're feeding their children, and so if.

G

You look at sort of look at the macro and see how it affects the micro. That's.

G

From our perspective, we get the foods that other people don't want, but are.

G

Grown anyway, because of the systems that are in place to grow massive quantities,.

G

Of food and shift and then all over the country, which then undermines local.

G

Economies and local fire are doing to forge those connections.

A

Between people in need and healthier, more diversified, food choices for.

A

Locally produced yeah, I could speak of, let's save a little bit of a cumbersome.

G

Way about you know, food banks and how their systems works. They've been on the.

G

Products that they receive and some products that they bid on actually earn.

G

Them credits to- bid, so you look at something like sheet: cakes or donetsk or.

G

Perishables, we, you know junk foods, things that we necessarily might.

G

Necessarily want to have, but if the, if a food bank purchases, those items actually.

G

Earns them more credits that they can then use to purchase something that's.

G

More desirable to providers like that, and so you see some of those systems at.

G

Work in the things that are available, and it's not just to share those of.

G

Course it's all food banks is a nationwide network that that system is.

G

In place for, and so you do see, some of those macro policies affecting the micro.

B

Choices: talk about consumer choice and consumer preference that presumes that.

G

Your consumer has a choice: food, insecure people may not have a nobody wants to.

G

Come to our food pantry, but when they come what's available with choices that.

G

They have, there are largely dependent on these large industrial complexes and.

G

Policies that we have in place in terms of what food trickles down to the medium.

G

Well, we have a really active audience here and it's great that you are.

A

Watching we're live from city hall, talking about your food 20:19 with mayor.

A

Hamilton and sustainability, director autumn salamanca and notice of our.

A

Community thanking everyone for your questions and we have quite a few kate.

A

Asks can anyone talk about? I use real food challenge and the I you farm, maybe.

E

Joey, so indiana university is embarked on the.

C

Real food challenge for a number of years that.

C

How is the oriented program that's every year they evaluate about 6,000 products.

C

That are purchased by iu to determine whether they need certain sustainability.

C

Rules yeah, whether it's real or not real, right.

C

And we are not lean on purchasing about six point: one: seven percent real food.

C

And they're trying to set some goals to the future, to increase that purchasing.

C

It's sort of when you, when you put everything on the table so to speak, of.

C

What you're purchasing you can strategize? What might help you increase.

C

The amount of real food coming into your system and then iu campus farm. If you.

C

Drive by tens and pinellas driving that and you see the little high tunnels.

C

There, that is a nice little urban farm and the campus fireman is was started by.

C

Dr. james farmer, with funding from anthesis, it's called sistina, you found.

C

The office of sustainability and they actually sell product into the iu system.

A

Another question coming in this is alana went from er, but it's an yo who says I.

A

Didn't hear the whole talk, but have you also considered promoting urban organic.

A

Farming on the front yards, there are some examples around the country where.

A

Regular people as a community learn to grow their food in their own houses and.

A

Trade or share among neighbors also is there a way to reduce the enormous.

A

Weights from supermarkets- well, you can speak about that. Maybe they throw out.

A

Many vegetables and foods that are still edible see them in the garbage containers. While I shop waste is a big piece of this.

A

Larger conversation right on yeah, I mean I don't work for a retailer, but there.

D

Are certainly some creative initiatives taking place retailers like kroger one.

D

Of the reasons why I understand there's a lot of food waste within the grocery.

D

System is because some of the food- that's not both desirable, they call it.

D

Ugly produce so cell companies are starting to now market ugly produce and.

D

Really try to educate their customers about the fact that, just because.

E

Something doesn't look like the perfect carrot doesn't mean that it's not a good.

D

Carrot so and then on the food waste side and in there is source reduction.

D

Which, I think is always a challenge to tackle and then there's also recovery. So.

D

You have unwanted so to speak, food. How do you best utilize that and and make.

D

That valuable material not just go to the landfill, so we've been talking about.

D

The food, unwanted food waste hierarchy, so if you have unwanted food, the best.

D

Place to send it is to other people, can it go to a food bank? Can it be.

D

Distributed to to focus in need the second place to send it is to feed.

D

Perhaps animals add another farm chickens in particular be a good one.

D

Pigs, the third piece is to try to utilize that unwanted through to create.

D

Renewable energy, if you have that lizard, can break down and.

D

Nothing next you compost it and we've got a lot of excitement within our.

E

Community right now around composting and there's a lot happening at night. You.

D

Have a residential scale and commercial scale as well, and then the very last.

D

Auction is it's obviously going to the landfills and we really don't want that.

D

Because it can take decades for those items to break down and with the topic.

A

Of waste is going to be discussed in the first of the film series that we are.

A

Showing that is february 6th february 16th at 4 p.m. at the us kirk chumley.

D

Theater having a free community, viewing of a documentary called wasted. The story.

D

Of food waste, it's a really interesting and engaging documentary and then.

D

Afterwards, we're going to briefly bring up some books from the community, including brian, to talk about how are we as a community working to both reduce.

D

Food waste and then how are we making sure that any unwanted food is being.

D

Utilized for people for animals and for composting so encourage folks to attend.

D

That I'll make a brief comment, but about food waste and groceries in supermarkets.

G

In particular, israel's food bank does make several runs been refrigerated.

G

Trucks to all of our local, almost all of our local grocers every week, and so the.

G

Food bank is going and collecting a lot of those seconds that ugly produce say.

G

You have a three pound bag of oranges. One of them is molting, so a consumer and.

G

A grocery store is not going to pick that bag. However, if you take that moldy.

G

Orange now, as we do every wednesday when our truck comes and then pour the rest.

G

Of them in a box they're perfectly good oranges, so there is some of that is.

G

Being rescued in that regard and hoosier girls also does a food rescue program.

G

Called neill shares where they're collecting cooked food.

G

Cafeterias in kitchens restaurants around town that at the end of the night.

G

Would otherwise be thrown away and is instead flash-frozen and then.

G

Distributed to food pantries like ours, so that we can give it to consumers.

G

We do have an uphill battle to fight. In terms of that perfect carrot. Theory.

G

However, because because you know folks come in and they see you know this, this.

G

Part of lettuce had this spot on it and so on, and so you know that can be a.

G

Dangerous thing to do is to offer products that appear less than desirable.

G

But they're perfectly nutritious and healthy. We don't want to send the.

G

Message that this is the best that we deserve, and so we're cognizant of that.

G

And we serve through our produce very carefully to ensure that we're not.

G

Making that so not everything that gets this way to us and then reusable, however,.

G

It's a it's a valiant effort on the prior conclusion helps I just wanna make.

G

A plug for them and again talk about sort of the equity of making those foods.

G

Available and I wanted to circle back to the first part of the question about.

F

Growing at home and we've had some developments in the last couple of years.

F

You know, thanks to john's leadership in the new the city of the the new.

F

Comprehensive master plan and also unified development ordinance. It's.

F

Easier now than ever to grow food in your back or your front lawn. Of course, I.

F

Highly recommend that you get your soil test before understating of doing so.

F

With the new master plan, very much supports urban agriculture bloomington.

F

Also has an urban agriculture ordinance that was passed several years ago, so.

F

It's a very supportive city for doing urban ag. You know.

F

Or in your backyard, the bloomington food policy council two years ago started the.

F

Bloomington urban growers, network or buggin. So if you want to connect with us.

F

Email be fpc at bloomington, fpc, org and just a mess in the tagline, maybe put bug.

F

But yeah there's a lot of urban agriculture initiatives starting to pop.

F

Up all the time, the city is it's very supportive of those, and so it's been fun.

F

Too, boosting the network connecting people.

F

Who do so many of these sources? So many partners there they remind you what you.

B

Who's talked at the beginning. One is value chain, coordinator, society, okay,.

B

Just trying to create linkages so called social mesh, your network or.

B

Infrastructure, I guess you talked about that's what sometimes it takes right.

B

It's just educating and connecting these pieces. I like the idea that we, you know.

B

As the plan does the new sustainability plan, it lays out specific goals and.

B

Moves us forward, so the next year is better than this year and they here.

B

After that, we just keep getting better, it's really really exciting and I'm just.

B

Starving in that food we have a year, it's been great to have you as our.

A

Audience today, and I want to just quickly introduce everyone once again.

A

Before we sign off, we've been visiting with mayor hamilton today, also assistant.

B

Director of sustainability autumn salamack,, jodee ellett, who is the coordinator of.

A

The indiana food council network and does community engagement with iu.

A

Sustainable food systems- science, initiative. steve thomas here- who is the.

A

Self-Sufficiency center program, director from mcum and ryan conway board.

A

Secretary of center for sustainable living and also chair of the bloomington.

A

Food policy. Council.- I deserve a snack after that., I'm yael ksander and I thank you.

A

Very much for watching this conversation will be posted on our facebook page and.

A

Archived, along with answers to your questions., thank you so much and join us next. Time.