City of Seattle, WA

07/25/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/25/2022 14:55

Share your thoughts on the City of Seattle’s Food Action Plan by August 19

The City of Seattle is updating its 2012 Food Action Plan, our roadmap for an equitable, sustainable, and resilient local food system that supports healthy, vibrant communities. We are seeking public input on the draft plan through August 19.

The food system touches nearly all aspects of everyday life, with significant impacts on our health, economy, climate, and environment. Food and meals are a large portion of most family budgets. The food system is also a major employer, and can provide communities with nourishing food from farm to fork. Unfortunately, persistent racial and social inequities exist in our food system at the local, regional, national, and global scale. COVID and climate change are deepening these injustices. The need to forge an updated Food Action Plan has never been more urgent.

We have spent months consulting and engaging with a diverse range of food system stakeholders and experts representing the communities most impacted by racial inequities in our food system. Their input has helped us to develop seven draft Strategic Priorities and 40 draft Actions the City can take to move us closer to a local food system that:

  • Ensures equitable access to healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food;
  • Supports locally grown food and urban farming, prioritizing those communities which were historically excluded from land access;
  • Offers equitable economic opportunity and promotes fair labor practices; and
  • Prevents food waste and climate pollution.

From now through August 19, we are inviting your opinions and comments on the Food Action Plan's draft Strategic Priorities and the actions associated with each priority. Please visit https://seattlefoodactionplan.consider.it/ to sign up and get started. As you will see, there is a lot to give input on. Please feel free to pick and choose the strategies and policy areas that are most important to you.

The seven draft Strategic Priorities are:

  1. Food & Meal Programs: Increase access to food and meal programs that are culturally responsive and promote health and food security.
  1. Land Access: Increase access to land for growing food as well as for community and economic development projects that involve food, prioritizing the communities most impacted by historically racist policies and practices.
  1. Education: Expand access to culturally relevant and empowering food and nutrition education for youth, adults, and older adults.
  1. Economy & Labor: Create an equitable, fair, and healthy local food economy for Seattle workers, businesses, and residents.
  1. Supply Chains: Foster equitable, environmentally sustainable, and strengthened local supply chains. 
  1. Food Waste: Prevent food waste. Rescue and redistribute surplus food for people who need it and compost the rest into new natural resources.
  1. Environment: Reduce climate pollution associated with Seattle's food system and support food production that improves the environment.

The finalized Food Action Plan is scheduled for completion in late 2022.