Synopsis of Multnomah Food Initiative

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.