Posts Tagged ‘food systems’

This week’s interview is with Alfonso Morales, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin – Madison – one of the premier schools for integrating food systems into urban planning curriculum.   He is originally from rural New Mexico with roots in family farming, there and in west Texas. He is a researcher, advocate, and a practitioner/consultant on food systems and public markets.  He has been invited to speak on these topics nationally and internationally.  A scholar of entrepreneurship, economic development, and law and society, he uses empirical research on these topics to investigate the relationship between reasoned behavior and social organization. His scholarship includes three edited books and more than 30 articles and book chapters; recently he organized a conference and co-edited a book about Mexican American Entrepreneurship. His publications are found in Spanish and English and have appeared in the American Journal of Sociology, Journal of

In recent years, the concept of “Blueprinting” has gained traction with various communities, including urban planning.  For example, many cities and regions in California are now producing bluprints in response to SB375 (including the of-cited Sacramento Blueprint that relates to land use, energy consumption and climate change.)  The Iowa Food Systems Council recently released their food systems blueprint.  The report was authored by Angela M. Tagtow, MS, RD, LD and Susan L. Roberts, JD, MS, RD, with consultation and input from over 50 stakeholder organizations.   The stakeholders represented the private sector, NGOs, and government organizations, but I only saw two county planning departments on the list (Linn and Story), and no major city planning departments (although, the City of Des Moines was listed, it did not mention of this was a specific department or a representative from the Mayor’s Office).  It would have been nice to see additional representation from city and

Article by John Reinhardt first published as Will Climate Change Cause a Collapse of Our Food System? on Technorati. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and Princeton professor, has an interesting opinion piece tiled Droughts, Floods, and Food in the February 6 edition of the New York Times.  In the article, Krugman posits that rising food prices have led to political instability, as we have seen recently in the Middle East. The Same Old Scare Tactics? Why is this significant?  After all, historians have posited that the French Revolution was sparked by two failed harvests that led to a spike in bread prices; the end of British rule in India has been linked to a similar source; and as recently as 2008, a surge in grain prices were blamed for riots in Haiti. So what makes this moment different?  Krugman links his argument to global climate change, and the types of

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts recently voted to create a Food Policy Council.  The council was created to advance the goals of the commonwealth’s food systems goals.  The four main goals are: Increasing the production, sale, and consumption of local produce; Supporting the delivery of local and healthy food to Massachusetts residents; Protecting the land and water that is crucial to food production; and Training, retaining, and recruiting farmers As you can see, many of these food system goals relate directly to environmental, social, cultural, and economic preservation and (dare I say) sustainability.  The council will also serve as an intermediary between state and federal agencies for communication and implementation of regulations, oversee public-private partnerships, andhandle institutional purchasing agreements. Read the full text of Massachusetts H.B. No. 4568

I highly recommend this fantastic article about the Brooklyn Food Coalition by Eleanor J. Bader. A little teaser to hook you in: Imagine the concrete jungle recast as a place where farms sit next to tenements and empty lots become oases of flower plots, fruit trees, and vegetable patches. It seems far-fetched, I know, but if members of the Brooklyn Food Coalition (BFC), a loose network of community groups from 11 diverse neighborhoods, are successful, this pipe dream will become reality. If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re interested in the contradictions in our urban food system – and in our country as a whole.  How can we be one of the richest countries, yet have so many people malnourished?  Why are some of the poorest people the most obese?  Why does an apple cost more than a bag of corn chips in an inner city bodega? Bader’s article

Kim Hodgson, manager of APA’s Planning and Community Health Research Center, collaborated with the Food Policy Advisory Committee of New Orleans to provide information about the New Orleans Food System for participants of the National Planning Conference.  A similar guide was produced last year for Minneapolis. From APA:To learn more about some of the city’s food related organizations, community gardens, farmers’ markets, food stores, restaurants and breweries, see the full guide at http://www.planning.org/conference/neworleans/pdf/FoodSystemGuide.pdf.

The American Planning Association’s National Planning Conference is taking place in New Orleans from April 10-13, 2010.  APA’s Planning and Community Health Research Center is partnering with the New Orleans Food & Farm Network and the New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee to host a screening of Big River.  From APA: Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010 Time: 6:30pm-9:30pm Location: Southern Food & Beverage Museum, New Orleans Louisiana (http://www.southernfood.org/) In coordination with the New Orleans Food & Farm Network and the New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee, APA’s Planning & Community Health Research Center and Food systems planning Interest Group (FIG) is hosting a 3 hour social and educational event for APA conference participants.   The event will start with a social hour (beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and a light-fare will be provided), which will provide members a chance to mix and mingle. Following the social hour, we will screen: Big River