2011 Food Summit

From Community Vision to Food System Action!
The 1st Annual Multnomah Food Summit was the kick-off event for the Multnomah Food Initiative, an innovative partnership within our community to develop a shared vision, collaborative food system goals, and a 15-year action plan. With the release of the Multnomah Food Action Plan in December 2010 our community embarks on the journey of turning our shared vision into action.

This year, at the 2nd Annual Multnomah Food Summit, over 230 community partners, including non-profits, businesses, faith organizations, schools and local governments from across the food system sector, joined together to work on implementation of the goals and actions outlined in the Multnomah Food Action Plan. Participants had the opportunity to attended 18 Breakout Worksessions focused on implementing healthy, equitable, and prosperous local food efforts in Multnomah County.

2011 Summit Worksessions
The 2nd Annual Multnomah Food Summit hosted 18 diverse Worksessions chosen through a community RFP process to address implementation of food system actions outlined in the Multnomah Food Action Plan. Worksessions engaged participants in turning vision into action with structured and interactive sessions that included next steps for the future. See below for next steps from each of the worksessions.

Addressing Potential "Gap" Actions
Through the online Declaration of Support, The Multnomah County Office of Sustainability compiled a list of organizations that committed to specific actions within the Multnomah Food Action Plan and categorized all 65 actions into 4 categories based on self-declared supporters.

What's Next?
The Office of Sustainability will compile the feedback from the 2011 Summit participants about how to address the potential "gap" actions. Once compiled, this information will be available on www.multnomahfood.org.

The Office of Sustainability also will connect organizations that commit to supporting any specific action by "mapping out" supporters across the Multnomah Food Action Plan's 65 actions.We hope to have this work completed in the Summer of 2011. This will make it easier for organizations to potentially collaborate their efforts and work towards implementation together.

Update Your Commitments!
If you have already signed the Declaration of Support, you can view your organization's commitment here. If you would like to make any changes or commit to specific or additional actions please send an email to mult.food.initiative@multco.us with the subject line: "MFAP Commitments." Encourage your partner organizations to commit to specific goals and actions within the Action Plan and to sign the online Declaration of Support as well!
 

What did you think of the 2011 Food Summit?

Please follow the link below to answer a few short questions about your experience at the 2011 Summit. 
We appreciate your feedback!

2nd Annual Multnomah Food Summit

2011 Worksession Summaries & Next Steps

Envisioning a New Community Food Resource Center
Several goals within the Action Plan call for a new resource center that could serve as a hub for our local food system. How would this resource center be structured and supported? What would the core functions be? This workshop will further define what an effective resource center would look like.

Contact
Emily Hicks, City of Portland Office of Commissioner Nick Fish
emily.hicks@portlandoregon.gov

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Integrate & compile 2011 Summit information
2) Meet with elected officials, share info
3) Continue to seek recommendations in fall from 2011 Summit Worksession

Leveraging our Collective Institutional Purchasing Power
Large institutions in Multnomah County spend millions of dollars each year on food procurement. This workshop will bring together a broad group of institutions including schools, hospitals, corrections facilities, senior centers and business campuses to discuss current efforts and the opportunities for leveraging our collective purchasing power to support local agriculture.

Contact
Keith Falkenberg, Multnomah County Office of Commissioner Shiprack
Keith.falkenberg@multco.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
The Worksession organizer will convene group from 2011 Summit to discuss next steps. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Building a Successful Farmer Resource Network
Actions 2.1, 13.2 & 16.2 all identify the importance of fostering and supporting beginning and continuing farmers. This worksession will bring together partners and stakeholders to identify barriers for commercially successful farmers growing food crops for the regional food system. This session will be led by the recently established Farmer Success Network of Oregon partners and will involve participants in discussing resources for farmers as well as showcase a web-portal for these resources.

Organizer
Katie Pearmine, Oregon Department of Agriculture
kpearmine@oda.state.or.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
The Worksession organizer will send out an email to the group from the 2011 Summit to join network as well as notification of when the site goes live. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Healthy Retail Initiative: Supporting Retailers to Offer Healthier Options
The workshop will provide an overview of the Multnomah County Healthy Retail Initiative (HRI). Participants will develop outreach activities to enlist stores in their own community and develop strategies to support retailers (e.g., alternate sourcing, bulk purchasing). The goal of the HRI is to support, encourage and promote voluntary actions by retailers to increase access to healthy, affordable and culturally-relevant food, especially in areas with less access to healthy options.

Organizer
Rachael Banks, Multnomah County Health Department
rachael.m.banks@multco.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
The Worksession organizer will send out an email to the group from the 2011 Summit to host a follow up meeting mid July 2011. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Moving Towards Healthy, Sustainable Food Policies & Practices in Your Organization
The goals of this worksession are to 1) Provide an update on local activities to adopt and implement organizational policies that set nutrition standards and establish sustainable food purchasing practices. 2) Identify challenges and opportunities of this work, 3) Collect a baseline among attendees about food service in their institutions and status of their respective organizational policies, 4) Offer a roadmap for moving forward. The session will include walking through initial planning steps and inviting attendees to join an on-going, multi-agency workgroup being convened by Multnomah County Health Department.

Organizer
Sonia Manhas, Multnomah County Health Department
sonia.manhas@multco.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
The Worksession organizer will invite participants from the 2011 Summit to join an on-going, multi-agency workgroup being convened by Multnomah County Health Department. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Unused Land Should Grow More Than Weeds!
Join us for a facilitated interactive discussion focused on finding pathways to convert unused public, private, and institutional space within the city into community gardens, hunger resources, or other urban food production. Participants will discuss and troubleshoot regulatory barriers, water access, as well as best practices. Come prepared for a highly interactive session in which we share dreams and ideas to make this effort a reality.

Organizer
Adam Kohl, Outgrowing Hunger
adam@outgrowinghunger.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Connect with Portland re-zoning process
2) Follow-up email to 2011 Summit Participants about next meeting
3) Join the Unused Land Google Group by following this link

Developing Partnerships to Build Equitable Community Food Resilience in Underserved Neighborhoods
This worksession showcases a vertically integrated partnership model that bridges education, research, and community---based change agents to promote healthy and equitable food access for underserved communities. Attendees will help to develop and apply an interactive on---line mapping tool to facilitate equitable partnership activities within their individual context.

Organizer
Lisa Weasel, Portland State University
lisaw@pdx.edu

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Create foodresilience.org website
2) Invite 2011 Summit session attendees to post blogs to the site
3) Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Strengthening Surplus Food Donation Infrastructure in the Portland-Metro Region
This work session is focused on strengthening the surplus food donation infrastructure in the Portland metro region through assessing gaps and barriers in the system and identifying potential next steps. This work session will elicit information from surplus food generators, hunger relief agencies, food rescue agencies, policy-makers and other food rescue experts.

Organizer
Beth Cohen, Oregon Food Bank
bcohen@oregonfoodbank.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) 2011 Summit participants will receive a follow-up survey
2) Report available in summer 2011
3) Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Our Food System, Emergency Preparedness and Regional Sustainability
How can we strengthen community resilience and our regional food system at the same time? This work session will feature a few suggestions from recent policy efforts and work with session attendees to see how our collective efforts can re-enforce community resilience and improve our emergency preparedness.

Organizer
Jeremy O’Leary, Transition PDX
jeremy@tpdx.net

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) 2011 Summit participants will receive a follow-up email
2) Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Moving Upstream on Hunger: Anti-Hunger Advocacy
In a highly interactive and informative workshop, local anti-hunger advocates will share Oregon’s 5-year plan to end hunger: Ending Hunger Before it Begins: Oregon's Call to action. Participants will learn advocacy strategies for state, local and national policy that address hunger at its root causes: poverty and access to food.

Organizer
Robyn Johnson, Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon
robyn@oregonhunger.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) 2011 Summit participants will receive a follow-up email
2) On site training will be available for interested parties
2) Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Growing and Sustaining Healthy and Equitable School Food Environments
This worksession will provide an overview of on-going efforts in Multnomah County to connect students to healthy foods through wellness policies, school meal programs, and school gardens. Participants will discuss the complex challenges to sustaining these practices in schools and brainstorm how to effectively support current and future efforts.

Organizer
Shannon Stember, Portland Public Schools
shannons@pps.k12.or.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
2011 Summit participants will receive a follow-up email. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Creating Neighborhood Food Security: Senior Centers and Senior Meal Sites as Catalysts for Action
By 2025, older adults will represent 22% of Multnomah County’s population. This worksession explores strategies to create community food security across the lifespan. Presenters will discuss how current projects at senior centers have become catalysts for community engagement, partnerships, and funding. Projects include intergenerational gardens, yard-share and gleaning programs.

Organizer
Jessie Mandle, Multnomah County ADS
jessie.mandle@multco.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
2011 Summit participants will receive a follow-up email and be invited to participate in the Soup Cookbook and future activities. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Building Community through Gardens
Discover and discern how collaboration by partner organizations works to build and sustain gardening in the community. Show successful methods of collaboration by organizations and individuals who want to create community through building and sustaining urban gardens.

Organizer
Leslie Pohl-Kosbau & Jenny Holmes, Ecumenical Ministries
lesiepohl@comcast.net & jholmes@emoregon.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Complete mapping community gardens
2) Indentify and connect additional partners with 2011 Summit participants
3) Participants will receive a follow-up email. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Community Kitchens: Skills, Resources, and Spaces for Affordable Food
Community kitchens are one tool for making healthy food affordable and practical. In this session, participants will learn about as well as provide input on local efforts to inventory underutilized kitchens, build community centers complete with teaching kitchens, and microenterprise incubator kitchens that can serve as the hubs of our local neighborhood-based food networks.

Organizer
Jocelyn Furbush, Portland Community Kitchens
jocelyn.furbush@gmail.com

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Assessment of resources and collaboration opportunities
2) Identify liabilities and benefits of opening kitchens for community uses
3) Participants will receive a follow-up email and be invited to another meeting. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Help Families Piece Together Food Budgets: Strategies to promote SNAP, WIC, and Child Nutrition
This session will include a basic overview of all 3 programs, including usage, target populations, barriers and outreach strategies, and will focus on simple and practical use of positive messaging. Increased basic knowledge about all 3 programs; increased participant comfort in using positive messaging within daily activities, and commitment to 3 actions to help promote the programs within individual communities

Organizer
Nancy Weed, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon
nancy@oregonhunger.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
1) Presentations at participant organizations
2) Connect volunteers to training/application assistance
3) Participants will receive a follow-up email from the organizer. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Developing a Harvest Festival to Celebrate a Local, Healthy, Equitable & Prosperous Food System
A counter-part to the Multnomah Food Summit, a Harvest Festival is a time to celebrate our tremendous efforts towards implementing the goals and actions that support a sustainable food system for our region. Join interested partners in brainstorming how to pull off this fun event! Participants will help with developing goals and objectives for the Festival as well as sharing best practices for similar events.

Organizer
Dan Bravin, Multnomah County Office of Sustainability
dan.bravin@multco.us

Follow-up & Next Steps
Participants will receive a follow-up email from the organizer to possibly convene a workgroup to plan for 2012. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

The Role(s) of Small Businesses in Creating Healthy Local Food Systems
Join this worksession to examine diverse small businesses active in the local food systems arena, as well as identify opportunities for cross-sector collaboration to work beyond existing barriers. This session will work to expand the roles played by small businesses in the food systems arena by identifying and acting collaboratively to expand upon existing efforts.

Organizer
Karen Wolfgang, Independence Gardens
Karen@independencegardenspdx.com

Follow-up & Next Steps
Participants will receive a follow-up email from the organizer. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!

Healthy Eating at Farmers Markets: Exploring Barriers and Solutions
The goals of the worksession are for 1) participants to learn about common barriers farmers markets face in reaching low-income families and seniors from hearing the experiences of farmers markets leaders, public health advocates, and the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization; 2) Learn about effective partnership building activities and tools; 3) Discuss findings from listening and reflection sessions conducted at farmers markets with immigrant residents in Portland and; 4) help identify programmatic and policy barriers to improving access to farmers markets among low income families, seniors, and immigrant communities.

Organizer
Amy Gilroy, Oregon Public Health Institute
amy@orphi.org

Follow-up & Next Steps
OPHI will host a partnership meeting in summer 2011. Participants will receive a follow-up email from the organizer. Please send an email to the contact above if you wish to be involved in addressing this action!