5/3/2012 - West Side Leader
     

DOWNTOWN AKRON — Akron City Council is supporting a move to promote healthy eating.

At its April 30 meeting, Council endorsed the Summit Food Policy Coalition’s Summit County Food Charter, which is designed to guide individual and community actions that support local food systems, according to the legislation.

The Summit Food Policy Coalition is a local organization dedicated to improving access to healthy food as well as spurring economic opportunities for existing and beginning farmers, according to the legislation.

According to Coalition representative Jerry Egan, about 250 people from the Coalition and other food-related organizations participated in the Growing Hope Food Summit in Akron one year ago in an effort to raise awareness and knowledge of local food systems, to increase access to healthy food, explore ways to strengthen the local food economy and connect and empower area residents to act collectively.

One result of that meeting was the Summit County Food Charter, which offers ideas on how to support and increase food initiatives that advance the local food economy.

According to the legislation, those ideas include:

• making sure nutritious food is available and within reasonable distance to all;

• actively encouraging growing food for personal use;

• providing education on growing, preparing and eating nutritious food;

• supporting regional agriculture as a business by encouraging the sale, distribution and purchase of locally grown food in area markets, grocery stores, restaurants, schools and other institutions directly from farmers;

• developing policies that preserve farm land, encouraging the use of vacant urban land for agriculture and permitting the raising of animals for food production;

• supporting farming by training new farmers and an agricultural workforce, supporting the sale of existing farms to new farmers, enacting prudent farming regulations and encouraging best farming practices; and

• supporting existing local food businesses and new food-related entrepreneurial opportunities through investment, incubators, micro-credit and other financial incentives.

“This [charter] was developed to draw attention to issues surrounding the availability of food,” said Egan.

“This is a first step to cultivate food and gardening initiatives,” added Councilman Jeff Fusco (D-at large).

Patrick Bravo, deputy director of Summit County’s Department of Community and Economic Development, said the food insecurity rate in Ohio is 18 percent, or 2.8 million people, and it would take $835 million to “close that gap.”

“This charter attempts to close that gap,” he said.

Locally, areas experiencing a “gap” in the access to healthy food include North Hill, Goodyear Heights and the Kenmore areas, according to information from The Ohio State University (OSU) Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.

Yvette Graham, coordinator of the OSU program, said there are “multilayers” in the need to improve access to healthy food, ranging from growers, farm markets and education. She also said OSU offers free workshops that help families make healthy food choices, and they include educational incentives, materials and food tastings. For more information, call 330-928-4769.

Fusco said city officials have been addressing the issue by encouraging community gardening on vacant lots, which help area residents access nutritious food by growing their own.

Officials from the Coalition and OSU said programs to address the issue also are in development.

Akron City Councilwoman Linda Omobien (D-at large) suggested programs aimed at teens and designed to teach them how to preserve the bounty of harvests, such as canning, also should be considered.

In other business, Council approved the following:

• an operating subsidy of $60,000 for the 2012 All-American Soap Box Derby, which is the same amount as last year. Akron City Councilman Garry Moneypenny (D-Ward 10) said the Soap Box Derby has a $3.5 million impact on the area;

• an operating subsidy of $138,000 for the Akron/Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau. Moneypenny said the amount is less than last year, and the bureau has a $54 million impact on the community; and

• an application for a $186,266 Justice Assistance Grant to improve the criminal justice system, representing a 15 percent decrease from last year, and with $152,738 for Akron and the rest going to Summit County.

The next Akron City Council meeting will take place May 7 at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, located on the third floor of the Akron Municipal Building, 166 S. High St. Committee meetings begin at 2 p.m., also in Council Chambers.

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