Edible Change is Enticing at 4th Annual Food Policy Summit
by Lynn Peemoeller, Co-Chair CFPAC
4/16/09
In its fourth year the summit Edible Change! Building Networks for Policy Action, hosted by the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council (CFPAC) reached full capacity bringing together over 250 people from the Chicago area and around the region with amazing diversity of geography, ethnicity, and age to talk, learn, and share stories about food. And who doesn’t like to talk about food?
The opening plenary started with a bang! An energetic delegation of young people from throughout the city marched in drumming on pots and pans and carrying signs endorsing local and healthy foods that they had put together during the previous one-day youth summit. That good energy led to the opening plenary. City Clerk, Miguel Del Valle spoke of the recently updated City Council website which makes a warehouse of city legislation available and will soon include up to the minute updates from City Council meetings. Mr. Del Valle’s enthusiasm for civic engagement was inspirational and set the stage for a day of policy advocacy around food issues.
A panel followed, sharing stories of success in food related policy over the past year- starting with Alderman Manny Flores of the 1st Ward who talked about grocery retail initiatives, other issues covered were current federal legislation for the Child Reauthorization Act, the progress of the CMAP GO TO 2040 food systems project, an overview of statewide work through the Illinois Food Farm and Jobs Task Force, the Chicago Climate Change Action Plan, an update of the Food and Fitness Initiative, and a strategic planning update for the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council.
The second part of the morning featured a panel on environmental, labor & social justice policy strategies addressing economic and health inequities in communities of color. Organized by Erika Allen Co-Chair of Growing Power and co-chair of the CFPAC, it was an interesting overview of work towards achieving equity and inclusion in the food policy movement.
The afternoon consisted of working groups on a wide range of specific issues from farmers markets to the farm to school movement, food access and grocery retail to institutional procurement strategies for local food purchasing, and the most popular group, urban agriculture. As a closing, we had an inspiring keynote address by celebrity chef Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill. He spoke about his passion for local food and how he established the Frontera Farmer Foundation to support local farmers. The most amazing part is that the Chicago Food Policy Summit is put together by an army of dedicated volunteers who believe that we can make a difference in the food system. There really is something for everyone at the Chicago Food Policy Summit.
For more information about the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council please visit http://www.chicagofoodpolicy.org
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