SETTING EVANSTON’S TABLE APRIL 2015 A REPORT TO EVANSTON FOOD EXCHANGE Calling for a community-based plan to reduce hunger and poverty By Bob Heuer Public Policy & Marketing Strategist [email protected] 1 Table of Contents Foreword……………………………………………………………………………………3 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..4 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...5 Key Findings from Stakeholder Interviews……………………………………10 EFE Organizing Principles…………………………………………………………….15 Evanston Needs Catalyst to Empower Local Food Networks...………..17 A Place to Start: Planting Seeds in 2015……………………………………… ..21 Public School, Municipal & State Policy Support…………………...............23 What to do about Washington?...........................................................................29 Local/Regional/State/National Resources……………..……………………..30 EFE Board of Directors 2 TO: Evanston Food Exchange Board of Directors FROM: Bob Heuer I am pleased to submit the following report for the purpose of informing your efforts to develop this new non-profit organization into a valuable asset serving our community. The findings draw on my 25 years of experience both writing about agriculture, finance and regional economies as a freelance journalist as well as my work as an independent public policy/marketing consultant serving public, private, and non-profit sector clientele. Most every participant in America’s local food movement has a story about how and where they began to become deeply aware of what they eat. Mine dates to May 1989 and a bus ride with commercial and industrial real estate brokers through the outskirts of Chicago’s western suburbs. My Chicago Reader article was entitled: “Bus to the Future: The open land of today is the corporate office environment of tomorrow.” “Bus to the Future” also had an unexpected personal meaning. That day-long ride through cornfields of opportunity led me on a new career path—and eventually to this food thing. I set out to understand the American cultural ethic that equates “progress” with destroying farmland. Organizing our way of life around a systematic creation of new suburbs seemed wasteful—or at least it did by the time the 20th century was winding to an end. Maybe it’s no coincidence that the 21st century had arrived before I saw a better way to grow. Several years ago, I realized food could be the foundational strategy for a political economy based on reinvestment in existing communities. This discovery was an outgrowth of my seven years as chair of the Evanston/Skokie School Dist. 65/202 Legislative Task Force. Parental concerns about the quality of school meals led us to draft—and both boards to approve—the 2009 “Healthy Communities” resolution. To write that policy statement, I reached out to content experts. Along the way, the Illinois Local and Organic Food and Farm Task Force hired me write their report to the General Assembly. “Local Food, Farms & Jobs: Growing the Illinois Economy” became the basis for a state law authorizing creation of the Illinois Local Food Farms and Jobs Council. As a gubernatorial appointee to the Council’s founding board, I spent five years representing our 65/202 school community in Springfield. That surreal experience taught me two things: 1) the Council’s organizational model has potential if applied at the local level; 2) if you want to get anywhere with creating a new food system, start with your own neighborhood. I look forward to working with you to help EFE pursue its mission. How this new non- profit will sustain itself is unclear. The answer may reveal itself through what some board members envision as a three-year pilot project. EFE’s experiment in making neighborhood-based agricultural systems work in Evanston could have an impact beyond our own community. Indeed, urban, suburban, exurban and rural 3 communities nationwide are exploring how to sustain themselves through food initiatives. Executive Summary The Evanston Food Exchange (EFE) was formed in response to community demand that surfaced during Evanston 150’s sesquicentennial planning process. One of the “10 Big Ideas” to shape the city’s future was a “Market for All Seasons.” EFE was formerly known as the Evanston Community Market. ECM organized the winter market that takes place Saturdays between December and April at the Evanston Ecology Center. Now completing its fourth season, this indoor venue complements the popular outdoor farmers market. EFE can build on this success by becoming a social enterprise organization that bolsters Evanston local food culture and revitalizes the grassroots foundation of our economy. This report draws on perspectives of 15 community leaders engaged in healthy food, nutrition, gardening and agriculture initiatives. Each interviewee expressed an interest in exploring how a common agenda might be developed to reduce hunger and poverty in our community. All encouraged EFE to facilitate this effort to align Evanston community assets. The report process has clarified an opportunity for EFE board to provide leadership by convening and facilitating a transparent and collaborative process to create a community plan. A good starting point would be to a public meeting for report interviewees to discuss needs and interests. A community plan could emerge from this two-prong strategy: 1. Crystallize a vision by leveraging momentum from stakeholders’ current projects to create a healthy food & farming community-building agenda based on five objectives: • Increase food production on private/public land • Develop market-based & need-based local food distribution systems • Create a pre-K through community college curriculum that combines gardening, nutrition, cooking, composting and entrepreneurship • Expand healthy eating cooking class programs • Develop a public education/awareness/community engagement program 2. Build a foundation for sustained long-term success by cultivating partnerships with City of Evanston (COE), Cradle to Career (C2C), and Northwestern University (NU) and include the following proposals: • COE can champion a neighborhood-scale community/economic development program by creating a “framework to support…a thriving food system” • C2C can complement its collective impact agenda on social services with EFE’s collective impact agenda on social enterprise • NU can create a research agenda that could address specific Evanston needs and may have relevancy for municipalities nationwide 4 This report was underwritten through a generous contribution from 1st Farm Credit Services. This Bloomington-based agricultural lending cooperative’s mission is to provide capital and related financial services to farmers and other agricultural businesses in northern Illinois. In February 2015, the Internal Revenue Service awarded EFE tax-exempt status as a 501 (c) (3) organization. This report scopes out options for EFE board of directors to create the collaborations to realize the new non- profit organization’s mission to “end hunger, reduce poverty and build healthier communities.” Introduction The Evanston Food Exchange’s mission “to end hunger, reduce poverty and build healthier communities” reflects a realization that the time is ripe for neighborhood- based agriculture. EFE can augment existing anti-hunger and poverty programs by leveraging the growing popularity of food gardening. Plant more seeds in the ground. Build markets to buy local products. Start in pre- school to create interest and demand. That’s the basis for an entrepreneurial strategy to promote the cultural resilience to address these complex social problems. The point of departure is a public dialogue to align the goals of the many local groups involved in healthy food, nutrition, gardening and agriculture initiatives. The opportunity to engage the broader community relates to a benchmark moment in our city’s history. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Downtown Evanston Farmers’ Market. Its enduring success exemplifies how food and farming are wellsprings for culture and commerce. In 1975, a city commission and Chamber of Commerce established the market on Benson Street with about a dozen vendors. In 2015, the city plans on 50+ vendors selling their wares at the market’s current location. The Northwestern-owned parking lot near the intersection of Oak Avenue and University Place will attract thousands of people each week. The market offers products that are healthy for the body, green for the planet and fair for the farmer. EFE can contribute by fostering collaboration among the many people committed to ensuring that “good food” is also accessible to all. “Strongest food trend in decades” In 1975, Evanston’s farmers market was one of about 300 nationwide. Forty years later, there are more than 300 markets in Illinois alone. This nationwide proliferation reflects consumers’ desire to know where their food comes from. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials call this “the strongest food trend in decades.” 5 The “local food movement” is sparking the formation of regional-scale food systems. This redesign of the commercial food business is increasing the flow of farmers- market-type products into high-volume wholesale channels. “Local” has become a popular selling point in grocery stores, restaurants, and dining halls like Northwestern. EFE can make a collective impact by focusing on the grassroots end of the spectrum. The need is to organize community-based initiatives that capitalize on of the increasingly favorable economics of backyard farming. EFE began laying groundwork for this effort with its 2011 establishment as the Evanston Community