Food Policy Councils: Strengthening Communities and Food Systems

1. www.markwinne.com • win5m@aol.com; (860) 558-8226 • Senior Advisor, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future • Books: • Closing the Food Gap • Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin’ Mamas • Stand Together or Starve Alone • Food policy resources at Center for a Livable Future: www.foodpolicynetworks.org Mark winne

2. What do food policy councils do? • Function as food system planning venues and “Dept. of Food” • Bring together members from government, academia, agriculture, food banks, restaurants, retailers, and faith communities • Focus on health, planning, economic dev., education, agriculture, and social services • Conduct local food system assessments and planning • Serve as the voice of the community related to food

3. FPC Growth & Orientation • Specific geographic and jurisdictional focus: municipal, county, state (about 20), regional, and tribal • Considers all elements of the food system • Multi-stakeholder orientation • 2010: 111 FPCs • 2012: 193 FPCs • 2016: 246 FPCs

4. What is a Food Policy Council (FPC)? “A group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions.”

5. As a food system organization, FPCs’ issues and stakeholders will be more diverse than those of typical single-issue coalition “Involving grassroots citizens in the work of coalitions is one of the thorniest issues that coalitions grapple with. Again and again, we hear coalitions bemoan the lack of real citizens and residents as participant in their coalition efforts.” From the Ground Up! Editors Gillian Kaye and Tom Wolff, 1997 Food Policy Councils Are Coalitions

6. Coalitions should strive to be: holistic, coordinated, collaborative, planned, accessible, preventive, comprehensive, and culturally relevant • Understand why grass-root leaders and residents become involved with your coalition • Understand your coalition’s credibility in the community and whether or not the structure might inhibit community participation • Time is required to identify and understand peoples’ interests, perspectives, values, as well as the informal leadership that exists in a community • There are organized and unorganized sectors which need to be understood • Select outreach strategies based on your capacity, resources, and their effectiveness Key Points

7. Impatience with process: people want action now! • Lack of cultural competency (it took the Santa Fe FPC two years to be invited to speak with the Tribal Council of the Tesuque Pueblo) • The “Tyranny of the Clock” (some people are not culturally attuned to making a 60 second statement – try the 7-minute listening exercise) What we measure matters: • Farmers’ market advocates: types of goat cheeses • Food pantry managers: pounds of food distributed • Farm to school advocate: heads of locally grown lettuce sold to schools • Parent activist in lower income school district: number of working bathrooms in a school What Are the Challenges?

8. Challenges Continued: • Little funding for coalition development and maintenance (funders want to see immediate results with project-related outputs • A coalition to oversee the “system” is not as valued as much as a single-issue or project organization • No capacity for or value assigned to planning; people and agencies tend to act more on “demand” or in crisis mode • Lack of alignment around values and issues: Recommendation to ban drive-through windows at fast food place endorsed by FPC but opposed by lower income community most directly affected

9. The interests of lower income communities may not be reflected in FPC mission statement • Formal appointments for seats and prescribed agendas associated with government-embedded FPCs can be obstacles • Dominance by professionals • Meeting location, time of day, language (multi-lingual; jargon and acronyms) • Uneven distribution of power between groups, agencies, organizations, and citizens, particularly unaffiliated. Challenges Continued:

10. Your food policy and program development and implementation will succeed when they are directly linked to a shared vision, participation by multiple stakeholders who share responsibility for implementing a plan, assessments, leadership, and a communication plan My Thesis

11. (Life is a partnership – you get out of it what you put into it) Cooperating: low risk to member; little chance of systems change; can model best practices, test ideas, convene problem-solving sessions Coordinating: low to moderate risk; better chance of systems change; can push organizational boundaries, engage in activities requiring greater mutual reliance Collaborating: moderate to high risk; best chance of systems change; has methods to resolve conflict; long-term system creation Understanding the Different Types of Coalitions and Their Implications

13. Vision… • Is the vision the product of only one person or was it arrived at through a group effort • Is it adequately understood and shared by everyone • Does it promote shared leadership and “ownership” • Was enough time allowed (process) for all members to articulate their individual visions and allow a unified vision to form? • Is the vision communicated frequently and consistently?

14. Develop a shared vision Set common goals Identify how each participant will address the goals, e.g. program and policy activities Have frequent communication between the participants Agree on evaluation and common measures Establish a coordinating entity or hub Collective Impact

15. Create more community-based and owned alternative food outlets (less reliance on chains) Reduce promotion and availability of unhealthy food Develop creative ways to use SNAP to encourage purchase of healthier food Create a food hub that will facilitate purchase of healthy, sometimes local food, by city agencies Make food a part of all city dept. policies Create an East Harlem Food Policy Council Create a centralized public database East Harlem: NYC Food Policy Center

16. Sugar-sweetened beverage tax needs additional healthy food incentives • New supermarkets don’t necessarily increase purchase of healthy food • Baltimore project: • Two independent supermarkets similarly stocked with fruit and veg. • One had numerous interventions; one didn’t • One with had 28% increase in purchases of healthy food • One without only had 6% increase Multiple Interventions Often necessary to change eating behaviors

17. Howard County, Maryland • Howard County, Maryland conducted a three-year project that reduced soda consumption by 20 percent without resorting to a tax. • They brought the whole community together around a series of marketing campaigns, policy changes, and the coordinated use of existing programs. • It was collective impact on a community scale using multiple interventions thoughtfully and strategically.

18. To secure stakeholder, grass-roots, and grass-tops (policymakers) “buy-in” and participation in food system change • Develop common policy agenda • Identify food system opportunities and challenges • Gather food system data • Develop measurable goals What’s the Purpose of a Food Plan or Charter?

19. A food charter is a statement of values, vision, and goals for a local or state food system that was developed by a diverse, multi-stakeholder group Charter Goals: By 2020, 20% of food purchased by public institutions locally grown; 80% of MI’s residents will have easy access to affordable, healthy, fresh food (20% local); Michigan schools will incorporate food and agriculture into their K to 12 curricula. Michigan FPC and Food Charter

20. Minnesota Blue Cross/Blue Shield Foundation played a major role • Cooperative Extension heavily involved • Two-year effort • FPCs were involved • Nurtured the development of local and sub-regional networks • Drew on collective impact model: common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support organization • 2500 participants, 200 events/convenings (some had 8 people and some had over 100), surveys and focus groups (no stipends were offered for participation) • Extensive participation and consultation with state administrative officials Minnesota Food Charter

21. Major investment in relationship and network building is probably biggest outcome – means as important as ends. • Policy recommendations: • 1) Establish Healthy Food Financing Initiative; • 2) Offer more high nutrition food at state food pantries/shelves; • 3) Provide tax credits to farmers for donated food to food pantries • Political pushback: MN is a big sugar beet state, the only major item that had to be left out was tax on sugary soft drinks. The Minnesota Food Charter Network policy priorities (examples): • Provide state funding for mobile food shelves • Increase resources to support hunger relief initiatives • Invest $10 million in the ‘Good Food Access Fund’ to support the development of healthy food retail • Contribute adequate funding for school meals • Provide resources to encourage small-scale food production to develop regional economies and enhance food security Minnesota Food Charter Outcomes

22. Leadership Models for Networks

23. Leadership and Management Models • Hierarchy • Flat (self-managed organization)

24. The arc of leadership is toward democracy – from kings and tyrants to presidents and bosses to voters and employees. • John Adams: “the people must consider themselves as the fountain of power….They must be taught to reverence themselves, instead of adoring generals, admirals, bishops and statesmen.” • Rost: looking at leadership literature between 1900 and 1991 found over 200 definitions • Barbara Kellerman, Harvard, “We don’t have much better an idea of how to grow good leaders, or stop bad leaders, than we did a hundred or even a thousand years ago.” We spend $14 billion a year on leadership development and programs. Some Thoughts on Leadership

25. Are the Council’s meetings interesting and engaging? Does leadership do a good job of facilitating and coordinating (non-hierarchical)? • Tips: Everyone’s worth and contribution must be acknowledged; allow space to voice feelings • Is each agenda item “actionable,” e.g. resolution or follow up is clearly defined at the end of discussion • Are agendas fresh and interesting; are outside speakers invited; do you always bring food? Leadership…

26. Shepherd the leadership process • Leadership is responsive to emergent needs and trends (therefore, there is no one “right leader” for all occasions, it’s situational). • Emergent leaders – members provide leadership to the network based on their skills, knowledge and experience. Leaders do not know everything and everyone. • Communicate a vision to members who contribute to and find value in participating, ask questions, share stories and resources, maintain transparency, and communicate clearly • Help build the capacity of the FPC to achieve their goals. The Leader’s Job

27. Success more likely when: • Members participate a lot and contribute more equally rather than allowing one or two people to dominate • Members read emotional state (emotional intelligence) of other members • Teams have more women because they are better at reading emotional states of others! Research on “Smart Teams”

28. Social loafing Abilene effect Information asymmetrically held Mountain climbing Good listening skills and resist the oppression of the clock Group Dynamics Considerations

29. Core group leads the effort Staff/consultants available for administration, project design, research, report writing, strategic direction, and facilitation (e.g. role of a backbone organization) Communication capacity available Visioning (values) and engagement process Work plan, timeline, deliverables Methods of measurement Effective implementation strategies Common Aspects of State-Wide Food Policy Action Planning (with thanks to Phyllis Schulman)

30. Large agriculture generally recognizes that organic and sustainable production are here to stay, and that it has scientific validity The medical establishment recognizes exercise and good nutrition reduce disease and increase health Marketplace recognizes “local food” has growing economic and consumer value Non-profits and policy makers recognize that low-income citizens should be able to get healthy and affordable food Can We Talk? What we Agree on