Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Piedmont Triad Regional Council was a grant sub-recipient of the US Department of Housing & Urban Development's Sustainable Communities Grant in 2011 and began the planning process called Piedmont Together -Piedmont Triad Tomorrow which ran parallel with a statewide planning process titled NC Tomorrow: Building Communities for Tomorrow's Jobs.During these planning processes, the Regional Council identified data that was crucial to the region's continued wellbeing. They realized that agriculture continued to be the most prominent source of private sector income for rural counties in the Piedmont Triad.2During the process of both planning initiatives the Regional Council began working on further developing the farm and food sector of their economy and improving access to healthy local food for their underserved communities. The 2015 strategic plan focused on creating Food Policy Councils across the region and assessing the marketplace for food production.The strategic work in this arena, became more focused on the importance of the farm and food economy and on access to healthy food through local farmers markets and better distribution of local food to more institutions in the region. They also started work on the region's supply chain to further develop distribution for all products and processes.In the summer of 2017 the Piedmont Triad Regional Council partnered with the Center for Environmental Farming at NC State University, Community Food Strategies, Piedmont Grown and Piedmont Together to do an Initial Food System Review for the Piedmont Triad Region. See Attachment #1This review revealed that 97 farms in the Piedmont Triad region sell produce through the use of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), which is up 28% since 2007. In contrast 989 farms are able to sell directly to the consumer and they have seen gross revenues of $4,589,000. Farmers markets are an integral part of the urban/farm linkage and have continued to rise in popularity. This region incudes 125 farmer's markets, roadside stands or produce markets.The Regional Food System review pointed out that there was a tremendous untapped opportunity for selling locally grown produce to institutional buyers, particularly for small growers that cannot market their produce directly to consumers because of other job or family responsibilities. The review suggests that developing this aspect of the local food system will result in more fresh, local food reaching the plates of North Carolinians as well as providing much needed income for rural farming households in the Piedmont Triad region and additional revenue streams for small businesses that act as the aggregation sites.This review also pointed out several needs for the Piedmont Triad Region:1. Multiple projects, programs, and initiatives geared toward assisting small and mid-scale farmers who wish to enter mainstream markets such as grocery stores and schools. For example, because so many of our region's small and micro-farmers have production marketing capacities - well below what is necessary - professional marketing and branding capacity is needed to help them successfully enter these more stable and lucrative markets.2. Need for climate-controlled cold storage facilities for small and micro scale farmers in order to leverage their capacity to serve institutional and local buyers.3. Need for a regional food council to make better connections among growers and buyers through development of a more robust supply chain3infrastructure at a regional level. A regional food council can lead efforts to 1) complete our initial regional food system assessment, 2) identify specific gaps in infrastructure, and 3) work towards collaborative regional solutions, 4) coordinate outreach and education programming, and 5) seek funding for regional projects, programs, and initiatives.In 2016 the Piedmont Triad Regional Council partnered with NC State University's Center for Environmental Farming (CEFS) and the University of North Carolina Greensboro to develop a Community Lab Project titled Harvesting Regional Potential: Research and Recommendations for a Regional Food Council in the Piedmont Triad Community.The report provides an overview of the structure and function of existing regional and local food councils; a summary of research on trends in the areas of agriculture, food insecurity and hunger; mounting health concerns, urban farming trends, and food policy; and a series of best-practices and policy recommendations for the potential development of a sustainable regional food council in the 12-county Piedmont Triad region.Some of the key potential challenges and sustainability issues to be addressed in the formation and development of the Regional Food Council include1. Logistical challenges and regional identification2. Dependence on one strong personality, organization or political figure3. Lack of funding4. Single issue focusTo successful address these challenges and issues, the report recommends the following:1. Engage members across different sectors of the food system and different backgrounds and draw from a diverse but organized base2. Establish priorities and agree on some kind of strategic plan from theoutset. If possible, utilize comprehensive assessment tool to betterunderstand nature of assets and challenges3. Establish clear structures for decision-making, communication andevaluation4. Define the goals of the food policy council at a regional level5. Clearly define organizational structure, outlining roles and responsibilities6. Establish clear metrics for evaluation7. The completion of a regional food assessmentGoal Number OneBuild a more resilient and sustainable food system with food security to serve all residents in the Piedmont Triad Region.Objective: Successfully establish a robust and effective regional food policy council for the Piedmont Triad Region.Goal Number TwoDevelop an effective regional communication system for all partners in the food chain and for the general public.Objective: Build an interactive website for the public and a listserv for the Council Members.Goal Number ThreeHave in hand a robust regional food assessment to guide the Food Policy Council's work on a Strategic Plan for Resilient and Sustainable Food System.Objective: Secure funding and complete a robust regional food assessment for the region.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
70%
Applied
20%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Build a more resilient and sustainable food system with food securtiy to serve all residents in the Piedmont Triad Region.Goal 2.: Develop an effective regional communication system for all partners in the food chain and for the general public under the Regional Food Council.Goal 3: Have in hand a robust regional food assessment to guide the Food Policy Council's work on a Strategic Plan for a Resilient and Sustainable Food System.
Project Methods
1. Convene all sectors of the regional food system during the development of the Regional Food Policy Council for their input and participation in the Council.2. Schedule, organize and facilitate regular Regional Food Council meetings to include formal minutes, a library of success stories across the region and manage community public relations3. Develop and maintain a system for organizing internal files and documents.4. Create and maintain contact data information that supports the Food Council, its work groups and the broader community:5. Facilitation support: Offer occasional facilitation support for the local food councils when needed (or providing funding for that support) to allow council leaders to focus on framing priorities, building relationships with local decision makers, and representing the views and experiences of the community populace.6. Development and housing of a Regional Food Council website and listservs: Establishing this web presence would support both broad community awareness of the overall initiative and as a place where the local food councils can go to get the latest trends in the industry, post regional events and house best practices, regional data, etc. This connectivity will strengthen all local food councils and create a sense of place for their work.87. Provide graphic design and branding support: Often food councils can go years without consistent promotional materials. Supporting councils with a basic logo design, letterhead and template for promotional flyers could elevate the credibility and awareness of the councils and their work.8. Food system and food infrastructure assessments: It is important as the outset to have a baseline assessment of the existing food system, pulled from secondary data housed at partner organizations. These assessments provide a foundation of knowledge to inform priorities and begin to develop partnerships with organizations within the community. The Piedmont Triad Regional Council will immediately seek funding for the first Regional Food System Assessment9. Feasibility studies: In addition to assessment of the existing reality (by county), local food councils often seek out systems level projects that may be more appropriate at the regional scale (food system infrastructure, distribution, and market capabilities).10. GIS mapping services to drive prioritization and advocacy efforts for policy and practices change.11. Track and support regional entrepreneurs and their projects in the food industry.12. Provide leadership to the Regional Food Policy Council in the development of new resources and strategies to help reduce food insecurity in the community to include a Strategic Long-Range Plan for a Sustainable and Resilient13. Work with Community Food Strategies in North Carolina to fund and host regional meetings and gatherings: Face-to-face connection is critical to sustaining the network of local food councils across the region.?