PIEDMONT TRIAD REGIONAL FOOD POLICY COUNCIL

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.