Identified Need:  On one hand, Multnomah County is at the epicenter of the local food movement and is progressive in identifying and attempting to manage the social determinants of health, but on the other hand, half of all the adults in Multnomah County are either overweight or obese; chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are on the rise; half of all Multnomah County children will be on food stamps at one point in their childhood; our economic plans don’t include food, and only about 10% of the food that we consume is grown locally.  What we lack is a shared vision and a strategic action plan to achieve a truly sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system for all. 

Goal: To develop a shared community vision and collaborative food action plan to promote a sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system. 

Framework:  Host a Food Summit in early 2010 to develop a shared community vision for our local food system and to develop a 15 year community action plan with objectives, goals, and metrics under a distributed ownership model.  

Outcomes:

• Food Summit Outcomes
  • Networked food system constituency
  • Regional linkages in food system strengthened
  • Shared community vision & ownership of actions
  • Foundation for planning effort
• Action Plan Outcomes (draft)
  • Food system is relocalized to extent practicable
  • Healthy food choice is the easy choice for all our residents 

Roles:

• Multnomah County will act as convener and facilitator for process
• Steering Committee will co-host Food Summit and help lead the planning effort
• All stakeholders and participants will jointly share responsibility for implementation

Phases & Timeline:

1. Food Summit (early 2010)
2. Action Plan Development (mid 2010)
3. Action Plan Implementation (2011-2025)

Action Plan Structure:  organize under the categories of foodshed (supply), healthy eating (demand), equity, and local economic vitality. 

Shared Governance Structure:  TBD

Identified Need:  On one hand, Multnomah County is at the epicenter of the local food movement and is progressive in identifying and attempting to manage the social determinants of health, but on the other hand, half of all the adults in Multnomah County are either overweight or obese; chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease are on the rise; half of all Multnomah County children will be on food stamps at one point in their childhood; our economic plans don’t include food, and only about 10% of the food that we consume is grown locally.  What we lack is a shared vision and a strategic action plan to achieve a truly sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system for all. 

Goal: To develop a shared community vision and collaborative food action plan to promote a sustainable, healthy, and equitable food system. 

Framework:  Host a Food Summit in early 2010 to develop a shared community vision for our local food system and to develop a 15 year community action plan with objectives, goals, and metrics under a distributed ownership model.  

Outcomes:

• Food Summit Outcomes
  • Networked food system constituency
  • Regional linkages in food system strengthened
  • Shared community vision & ownership of actions
  • Foundation for planning effort
• Action Plan Outcomes (draft)
  • Food system is relocalized to extent practicable
  • Healthy food choice is the easy choice for all our residents

Roles:

• Multnomah County will act as convener and facilitator for process
• Steering Committee will co-host Food Summit and help lead the planning effort
• All stakeholders and participants will jointly share responsibility for implementation

Phases & Timeline:

1. Food Summit (early 2010)
2. Action Plan Development (mid 2010)
3. Action Plan Implementation (2011-2025)

Action Plan Structure:  organize under the categories of foodshed (supply), healthy eating (demand), equity, and local economic vitality. 

Shared Governance Structure:  TBD

Draft template for the Multnomah Food Initiative.

Multnomah County Green Team Green Bag Lunch & Learn Lecture Series: Better Soil, Less Toil: Putting Compost to Work For You Green Bag Lunch & Lecture  WEDNESDAY JULY 1st 12:00 - 1:00 PM MULTNOMAH COUNTY BOARD ROOM 501 SE HAWTHORNE BLVD. Nothing is more important for your plants' health than compost. This presentation will focus on the value of compost and how easy it is to get your own compost pile started. Learn how to make and use compost so your soil can generate some of its own fertilizers and even till itself! From no-fuss methods of turning fruit, vegetable and yard trimmings into rich compost to easy techniques for applying compost to your garden to using worms to make compost, you'll return home with essential tips for soil fertility success. Since 1994, Glen Andresen has been Metro's natural gardening educator. The program offers presentations, a summertime garden tour, and information on how to have healthy yards and gardens without the use of pesticides. Glen has been a Master Gardener since 1991. Since 1985, Glen has tended a 3/4-acre organic garden at a retreat center near Eagle Creek in Clackamas County. He is the host of the 1/2-hour edible gardening show, "The Dirt Bag," heard the second Wednesday of each month at 11:00 a.m. on community radio station KBOO, at 90.7 FM in Portland; he also writes "Ground View," a monthly gardening column for The Portland Alliance newspaper. Glen is an avid hobbyist beekeeper, keeping approximately 30 colonies of bees - give or take a swarm or bear attack. He has degrees in economics and music but still would rather play in the dirt. For more information, please contact: Terry Baxter - terry.d.baxter@co.multnomah.or.us We hope to see you there! Please note: County employees to attend on their own time.  Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Location