Shira Gans Presentation, CT Food System Alliance

1. FoodNYC:
Food Policy &
Local Government
Shira J. Gans
Office of Manhattan Borough President
Scott M. Stringer

2. Overview
• Office of the Manhattan Borough President
• The Beginning: Go Green East Harlem!
• Community Organizers to Policy Makers
• Bigger Than One Neighborhood
• 1st
Conference: The Politics of Food
• 2nd
Conference: New York City Food and Climate Summit
• Challenges
• Accomplishments
• Things to Consider
• Q&A
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

3. Manhattan Borough President
Scott M. Stringer
• Elected in 2006
• Appoints Community Boards
• Advisory role on land use, educational policy,
city pension and public development subsidies
• Allocates capital grants to non-profits and city
agencies
• Advocates for sound policies from “bully
pulpit”
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

4. The Beginning:
Go Green East Harlem!
• Collaborative community-based initiative aimed at
breaking the pattern of harmful environmental
conditions that have been part of East Harlem’s history
for decades
Initial Accomplishments
– East Harlem Asthma Center
– Farmers market that accepts EBT
– Planting of hundreds of street trees
– Go Green East Harlem Cookbook
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

5. Bigger Than One Neighborhood
• Hunger:
– 1.4 million New Yorkers are food insecure
– In 2009, 93% of emergency food providers saw an increase in first time
visitors and 70% increase in child visitors
• Access:
– 3 million New Yorkers live in high need super market areas and 750,000
in food deserts (equivalent to 85% of Hartford’s population)
– 1/3 fewer grocery stores in NYC in 2010 than in 2004
– In 2008, 59% of soup kitchens and food pantries ran out of food and
51% had to turn people away
• Affordability:
– 3.1 million New Yorkers experience difficulty affording food
– In 2007, 1 in 5 households with incomes over $75,000 had difficulty
affording food
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

6. Bigger Than One Neighborhood
• Health:
– 1.1 million New Yorkers are obese, 2 million are overweight
• 40% of New York City public school students grades K-8 are
overweight or obese
– 700,000 New Yorkers have diabetes causing heart disease,
stroke, blindness, and lower extremity amputations
– Nationally, children born after 2000 are the first generation
expected to live shorter lives than their parents
• Supply: A NY farm is lost to development every 3 days

7. Community Organizers
to Policy Makers
Decided to host conference with goals of:
– creating citywide food policy agenda + framework
– carving out role for local government
• Engaged key partners:
– Formed Conference Steering Committee of 50 key
local leaders, advocates, and service providers
– Engaged Columbia University benefiting from
faculty expertise, student creativity, and expansive
resources
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

8. 1st
Conference: The Politics of Food
November 2008
• Seven breakout session:
1. Food Distribution
2. Finding Healthy Food
3. Nutrition Education
4. Urban Farming
5. How NYC Agencies Can Serve Healthier Meals
6. Food Safety Net
7. Urban Food Agenda
• Speakers: Mayor Bloomberg; Father Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, President, U.N.; Maya Wiley, Founder
and Director, Center for Social Inclusion
• Attendance: 800
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

9. 1st Conference: Outcomes
Food in the Public Interest Report
Foodshed Study Proposal
– Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture and Urban
Design Lab, Columbia University
– Senator Gillibrand
Food charter:
– “The purpose of the NYC Sustainable Food Charter is to set forth the
values and principles essential to a just, vibrant, and sustainable food
system, and to spur the creation of such a food system for all New
Yorkers.”
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

10. 2nd
Conference: New York City Food
and Climate Summit, December 2009
• Timed to Climate Change Talks in Copenhagen
– Wanted to bring focus to role of food and cities absent in
Copenhagen
• Continue and deepen work from 1st
conference
– Partnered with Just Food and New York University
– Incorporated hands-on, skill building break out sessions, as
well as policy sessions
• 29 break-out session and 1,000 attendees
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

11. FoodNYC: A Blueprint for a
Sustainable Food System
1. Urban Agriculture
2. Regional Food Production
3. Food Processing and Distribution
4. New Markets
5. Procurement of Regionally Grown Food
6. Education
7. Food Waste
8. Plastic Water Bottles
9. Food Economy
10. Government Oversight and Coordination of Food Policy and
Programs
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

12. Challenges
• Bridging urban/rural divide
• Seeing common goals amid competing agendas
• Implementing recommendations in resource
constrained environment
• Overcoming institutional barriers
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

13. Accomplishments
• Manhattan Borough President + Friends
– Set agenda and built coalition
– Memorialized ideas and vision in reports
– Go Green East Harlem Cookbook
– Increased the numbers of farmers markets in low-income areas
– Created Youth Bucks Program (800+ children participated) and Go Green Mobile
Veggie Van
– Promulgated new vision for environmental review process that includes healthy
food infrastructure
– Helped pass ground breaking urban bee keeping legislation
– Drew attention to state and local tax subsidies for fast food chains
• Change Can Happen
– Mayor is considering adding food to PlaNYC
– Administration has implemented FRESH incentive program for grocery stores
FoodNYC: Food Policy & Local Government

14. Things to Consider
• What are your primary goals and should they be
aligned with potential funding sources?
• Where are the intersecting interests between
rural and urban?
• Are there immediate concerns around which to
organize?
• What is process is most inclusive, engaging, and
impactful?

15. Q & A