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Regional Food Congress may boost Cincinnati economy

By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Farmers’ markets, roadside stands and grocery chains dot the Cincinnati metropolitan area, but one man has visions of bringing together urban and rural stakeholders from nonprofits, citizen groups, governments and businesses to identify opportunities for system development, practices and goals for a better local food economy.

David Mann of the University of Cincinnati’s Community Design Center is project coordinator of the newly formed Cincinnati Regional Food Congress (CRFC).

“We’re trying to bring urban and rural stakeholders together through the CRFC,” he said. The urban stakeholders will include those who run farmers’ markets as well as those who are running traditional food distribution systems. Just to be safe we’ve extended invitations to food stores like Kroger’s.

“Will they come? Most likely not. But we want to make everyone feels they can come to the table and help build a healthy food system for Cincinnati.”

Through this effort Mann hopes to ensure the viability of local farms and look at the food access issues of low-income areas in Cincinnati. “There’s a lot of different programs that fill such gaps, but we’ve found that no one is talking to each other,” he said. “I see one vision which brings everyone to the table and makes sure all the different efforts are working together.”

Growers and non-growers are invited to attend the inaugural Cincinnati Regional Food Congress (CRFC) this Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Community Design Center on the University of Cincinnati campus.

“We’ve worked to gather over 100 passionate and knowledgeable individuals to share information about and discuss the issues facing our regional food system,” Mann said.

Through this daylong event, Mann and his staff hope to educate citizens and policymakers on the importance of local food systems. The panel of experts will discuss ways to support local producers and increase productive capacity, how to improve access to healthy food for underserved communities, how to foster synergies between existing programs and how to ensure continuity of the food policy efforts.

“Right now the local food system is not viable here, and small and medium-sized family farmers are declining,” Mann said. “In addition, thousands of people are food-insecure in the Cincinnati area, and diet related health problems are on the rise as the food industry aggressively promotes unhealthy foods.

“And our current food system is dependent on thousands of miles in distribution channels, while acres of land lie fallow here in our midst. These problems are being addressed nationally and in some cities already, but more work needs to be done in the Cincinnati region.”

According to Mann, the CRFC hopes to bring together a diverse number of organizations active in the food system in the Cincinnati area – groups such as The Nutrition Council, the Ohio State University extension office, Gorman Farms, Imago Earth Center and others.

“At the Food Congress we plan to assess the current condition and problems in our metropolitan food system and we hope to design and implement strategies to address those issues through policy and action,” Mann said.

Parties involved with the CRFC met last December to discuss a variety of strengths and weaknesses of the area food system. The group learned there was available land and good infrastructure for such an effort, and opportunities for increased consumption of local products.

“We found there was a weakness of the local food system, ranging from the uneven distribution of retail outlets and lack of a food co-op in Cincinnati to the difficulty farmers have in making a living by distributing locally,” Mann said. “And one of the largest hurdles to the establishment of a healthier, more equitable and environmentally sensitive food system in the Cincinnati area may be a lack of communication among the various interest groups.”
Also studied were the needs of the poorest community members, as well as the environmental, social and health-related impacts of the current food system, and CSAs, farmers’ markets and small-scale entrepreneurial distribution networks.

“Though we may not all be able to agree on the single best way to produce, distribute and consume food in southwest Ohio, we must all admit that the solution will likely be a combination of all of our efforts,” Mann said.

“The hope is for these discussions to evolve into a permanent body charged with educating officials and the public, shaping public policy, improving coordination between existing programs and entrepreneurs and starting new programs and businesses related to the local food system.”

For more information about this event contact Mann at 513-556-3282.

3/11/2009