Community Gardens, Oshkosh & The Atlas

As more research and data becomes available, and as communities continue to move towards sustainability, food proximity and food health is going to continue to grow in importance. One excellent widely adopted program by communities across Wisconsin and the world is community gardens. Oshkosh took the first steps by acknowledging the importance of local food gardens, and called for an expansion of locations in the city's comprehensive plan. However, to date that is where the momentum has stopped.

Recently, UW Extension staff came to the city looking to establish sites within the city that are accessible to neighborhoods and to those with limited transportation options. UW Extension offered to provide coordination support as well as land development assistance. The current site located north of town only has a limited number of years until the land can no longer be utilized by UW Ext. The response from the city that I am aware of to date has been "we're looking", which is far better than no response at all. However, I'm beginning to think that this needs a full-blown campaign to get the momentum started again.

My thoughts:

1. Sustainability board passes a resolution supporting the establishment of garden space within the city, detailing the numerous benefits (if you're not a believer, simply google it or wait to read the resolution).

2. Organize a televised listening session on the subject at city hall, and invite the endless number of folks who participate, benefit, or believe in community gardens. Opposition voices would obviously be welcome, as they may offer points that help to improve the gardens. Supporters of the local food concept include many local restaurant owners and chefs; farmers market organizers, sellers, and customers; folks and organizations who value environmental sustainability; folks who are into healthy foods; gardening groups; and many more.

3. Mobalize emails and telephone calls to city staff, with the goal of at least 2-3 per related staff member per day for an extended period of time

4. Get some quality PR online, at the NW, and at Eye on Oshkosh

5. Articulate the point that, of all cities, Fond du Lac is doing a better job on this than Oshkosh. Common city, have you no pride?


Anyway, here is the email I received concerning new food "environment factors":

The U.S. Food Environment Atlas Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics— interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions.

Objectives of the Atlas:
1. To assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality,
2. To provide a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so

What information is included in the Atlas? The Atlas assembles statistics on three broad categories of food environment factors:

1. Food Choices—Indicators of the community's access to and acquisition of healthy, affordable food, such as: access and proximity to a grocery store; number of foodstores and restaurants; expenditures on fast foods; food and nutrition assistance program participation; quantities of foods eaten; food prices; food taxes; and availability of local foods

2. Health and Well-Being—Indicator s of the community’s success in maintaining healthy diets, such as: food insecurity; diabetes and obesity rates; and physical activity levels

3. Community Characteristics— Indicators of community characteristics that might influence the food environment, such as: demographic composition; income and poverty; population loss; metro-nonmetro status; natural amenities; and recreation and fitness centers

The Atlas currently includes 90 indicators of the food environment. The year and geographic level of the indicators vary to better accommodate data from a variety of sources. Some data are from the last Census of Population in 2000 while others are as recent as 2009. Some are at the county level while others are at the State or regional level. The most recent county-level data are used whenever possible.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/

http://letsmove.gov/accessing/index.html

Posted in: Food and Business,Health,Local Government,Our City,sustainability