Sonoma FSA Presents Food Forum Report to BOS

Aug. 2011 The Sonoma County Food System Alliance presented their Food Forum report to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on August 9. All five supervisors formally accepted the report and the recommendations made by the community. They all agreed that the next step is for the Food System Alliance to create a food policy framework and community food action plan, which the Alliance will begin work on this fall.

Also presented at the board meeting, was a report on the County Lands Program, which several Alliance members have been involved with. The program allows county lands to be set aside for agriculture, and in particular, for new farmers. Download the Sonoma West Times & News article (pdf) describing the project.

Key Recommendations from the Food Forum Report:
• Develop more possibilities for in-county aggregation and processing of agricultural products. If we can aggregate and process more of our farm products in the county, we can increase access to these products, reduce costs for producers, and create new jobs.
• Strengthen community education about food and our food system to increase awareness of and demand for healthy, local foods. An educated public will choose to support local business, creating a virtuous cycle of economic growth.
• Alleviate hunger and increase the affordability of fresh, local food. One strategy for this is to build neighborhood food security using a variety of urban farming, community garden, home garden, and micro-scale projects that are already underway.
• Increase the production of food on public lands to both provide opportunities for new farmers and increase production of food for food insecure communities.
• Strengthen local support, education and development opportunities for new farmers through internships and mentoring to help reverse the aging of our farming community.
• Improve the regulatory and permit processes for farmers to allow projects to move ahead more quickly and to reduce costly rules and legislation that do not improve environmental performance.
• Increase agritourism to both strengthen the bonds between urban and rural residents and as an economic development strategy.
• Focus on the needs for farm worker housing and transportation as a key to having and retaining the skilled workforce that modern agriculture requires.
• Recognize water as the key environmental issue in the county and find ways to balance interests of stakeholders in water resources.
• Establish a County staff position or positions to help further a healthy, local food system.

Download the press release (pdf) announcing the release of the report.