While the discussions and topics leading up to this week have all informed the broader topic of food and planning, this week's targeted focus is challenge to reflect on personal experience in the context of urban planning. At the Florida APA Conference in September, I attended a session on food systems planning in Florida. Though some topics were exactly what I expected--community gardens, etc.--one speaker really struck a chord on how the exchange between the farm and the consumer should operate. This speaker was a "small" farmer (compared to industrial-scale ag) in central Florida, who felt more like an innovator in the community-food system dynamic. Her plan is to promote a direct connection between farmer and consumer--not necessarily a revolutionary idea--but she plans to do so through by mobilizing food access through converting trucks into mobile markets. This will provide direct access to people who need healthy foods most. I love that such a simple and implementable idea can be simultaneously so effective.
Sometimes, however, it seems that the red tape of bureaucracy can hinder the swiftness with which these plans are accomplished. Most often, a municipality's zoning code or ordinance code can prohibit or overly-regulate community gardens, farmers markets, or food trucks. At the same time, this are fairly new concepts and there isn't much of a standard in place. Some places, like Detroit, have seen them spring up out of necessity, but many towns are built-out and don't have great spaces for these utilities. Even as planners and codes evolve towards more amenable food system models, free market enterprise still dictates the location, intensity, accessibility, and suitability of food businesses. Planners can't create a perfect food system in a depressed area, and they can only control business types to an extent. They can't make an affordable grocery store appear in a food desert, just as they can't always prevent a convenience store or fast food restaurant from opening there either, as those business owners have entitlements to an economically beneficial use of their land. Further, access to healthy foods is more than a zoning and land use issue. It also extends to transportation and environmental concerns. What does this mean for the future of planning and food systems? Limiting the size of grocery stores could inadvertently promote convenience stores instead of smaller footprint groceries. Perhaps offering development incentives for businesses to locate in depressed areas could promote their presence? I think that as a profession, the concepts that surrounding fixing broken food systems is still blossoming, and it might take imagination, innovation, and abstract implementation of zoning and land use codes to move towards a more sustainable future.
First of all, I love your title--"The Big how to." Second, the central Florida farmer's idea about "promoting a direct connection between farmer and consumer through converting trucks into mobile markets" sounds oddly like the FoodBulance idea, hehe. On a more serious note, you bring up fair point in regards to the red tape that surrounds planning. Zoning and code ordinances make it difficult to not only secure land to start a community garden, but also to sell the food as well. Although as planners we cannot control the market, we can advocate for policies and incentives of super markets to locate there. It's a tough issue to tackle.
ReplyDeleteI think that the mobile market idea is very progressive. I've heard of similar efforts going on around the country, like in Chicago and cities in California. I guess it might not help the with the issue of fossil fuel use in food distribution, but I think it is a step in the right direction in terms of access. I know some people who were working with the urban farm, Ten Speed Greens, here in town, and one of the many things I really liked about their project was the focus on the delivery of produce via bicycle. Hopefully they will be up and running again soon.
ReplyDeleteI think you also bring up a good point about how interconnected these issues are. Land use and zoning issues are only one element of the system. Planners can also affect the food system and access to healthy foods through other aspects like attention to transportation issues. I think incentives for developers can help get certain businesses like grocery stores into under-served communities, but I think sometimes there are problems keeping them there. I think that recognizing the ways that the food system connects with various elements under the control of planners, and the creation of partnerships between planners and various other institutions and organizations with an interest in these issues(like the department of health or nonprofit organizations focused on food justice or sustainable/local food systems) are ways to move forward.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! A friend actually started a mobile market back in my home city two years ago: http://wfpl.org/mobile-kitchen-rolls-through-smoketown-to-bridge-the-gap-to-food-access/. It was pretty neat!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your point about the "red tape" as a barrier to plan implementation. There's this great interview with Cormac Russell, of the ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development) Institute in Chicago, where where he talks about the case of Limerick, Ireland. He said within the first 100 interviews that they did there, people identified 870 things that would make the community better that weren't already being done. When asked why they weren't already doing these things, they answered, "they couldn't do it because they were being blocked by bureaucracy and red tape." He then describes the projects they were able to do once they overcame those obstacles. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2p49zk (Limerick example at 1:46).
People often have assets and solutions, and I think Planners are in a unique position to support them and help navigate or reduce some of that "red tape."
I really liked your perspective in this post Jamie, especially regarding incorporating delivery into food systems. I know there have been similar initiatives to try to bring books into low income areas where there aren't easily accessible libraries by creating a mobile library van. A major issue that we talked about regarding food deserts was the lack of transportation to super markets and grocery stores. The effort of small farms and urban gardens to bring the food to the people instead of the other way around is innovative in itself. Poverty is confining and oppressive, but trying to break down these barriers is a move in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mentioned that it has become difficult for urban gardens to develop anywhere due to lack of space and/or red tape bureaucracy, I think you had a very legitimate point. It is unfortunate that preserving agricultural land has not been a priority initiative by urban planners, but the food justice movement is definitely bringing this issue to light. We cannot have community agriculture if there is no allowable land. Maybe this is where we can get creative and start developing more green roofs or hydroponics, but that has an even longer list of guidelines and regulations I'm sure. It will take local food advocates and the cooperation of understanding planners to navigate it; however, I know if we make it known how important it is, it can happen.