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<br />ATTACHMENT C <br /> <br />FOOD SECURITY PLAN RECOMMENDATION BACKGROUND <br /> <br />d <br />By January 2010, return to council with a scoping and resource plan for developing a food security plan <br />which will (1) identify community partners and form a project advisory committee, (2) review existing policies <br />and food system assessments, (3) develop a market analysis plan, (4) identify benefits and barriers and (5) <br />determine the budget and timeline to complete the plan and identify resources available, including external <br />funding sources. <br /> <br />1. Introduction - What is food security? <br />Food is one of the basic human needs. Access to food is an issue that affects the entire community. Planning for <br />food security is a proactive initiative that can be described as a comprehensive strategy to address the many <br />problems that arise in a community due to an unsustainable and unjust food system that relies too heavily on <br />outside food systems functioning at full capacity rather than focusing on community self-reliance. <br /> <br />The North American Community Food Security Coalition outlines the six basic principles of community food <br />security as: <br />? <br /> Community resource focus: community food security builds up a community’s food resources to meet its <br />own needs. These resources include: supermarkets; farmer’s markets; gardens; community-based food <br />distributing and processing ventures; and urban farming. <br />? <br /> Local agriculture: a stable local agricultural base is key to a community responsive food system. Farmers <br />need access to markets that pay them a decent wage for their labor, and farmland needs planning <br />protection from suburban development. Building stronger ties between farmers and consumers gives <br />consumers a greater knowledge and appreciation of their food’s source. <br />? <br /> Broad goals: addressing a broad range of problems affecting the local food system, community <br />development, and sustainability issues such as rural community disintegration, unsustainable suburban <br />sprawl, and pollution from unsustainable food production and distribution patterns. <br />? <br /> Low income food needs: meeting the food needs of low income sectors of the community, improving <br />individual health, and reducing the hunger problem. <br />? <br /> Self-reliance/empowerment: community food security seeks to build upon community and individual <br />assets, rather than focusing on their deficiencies. Food security plan development engages community <br />residents in all phases of project planning, implementation, and evaluation. <br />? <br /> Systems-oriented: community food security projects typically cross many boundaries and call for <br />collaboration between many different groups and agencies. <br /> <br />2. Why do we need a food security plan? <br />Food is a critical resource for us all. Not having enough food or a nutritionally adequate diet has major social, <br />economic and environmental impacts for the whole community. The creation and implementation of a food <br />security plan can increase community resilience to food price rises and availability fluctuations through enhancing <br />local food production, storage, processing, transportation and sale. <br /> <br />The US food system has become highly dependent on fossil fuels for food production, processing, distribution <br />and sale. The availability and cost of food in Eugene could be significantly impacted by a number of factors <br />including rising fuel prices affecting transportation, processing and fertilizer. Since World War II production of <br />food has also become increasingly more industrialized with fewer small family farmers and an increase in large, <br />corporation owned agricultural holdings. In Eugene and the lower Willamette valley we are fortunate to have a <br /> <br /> <br />d <br /> Community food security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally <br />adequate diet through a sustainable food system that promotes community self-reliance and social justice. Food security also <br />consists of resilience to sudden changes in food availability and/or cost, such as would be caused by a rise in the price of <br />transportation fuels, a decrease in local production, or decreased access to food imports to the community and the region. <br /> <br />Z:\CMO\2009 Council Agendas\M090209\S090209B.doc <br /> <br />