River Region Food Policy Council

Check Out Our Listening Session Word Clouds

riverregionfood — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:04:55 +0000

Our new word clouds graphically show the responses to the three questions we ask at every Listening Session. Now you can see what we’ve been talking about.

Question 1: What are some of the problems with our region’s food system?

Question 2: What are some solutions to these problems?

Question 3: What specific policies would create these solutions?

Would your group like to host a Listening Session?

Contact us as riverregionfood@gmail.com to schedule a session today!

EPA and USDA Join Together to Reduce Food Waste

riverregionfood — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:05:39 +0000

Did you know that food waste is the single largest type of waste entering our landfills? Americans throw away 40% of their food, which leaves more food in our landfills than either plastic or paper. The discarded food decomposes, releasing the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

The wasted food is also a missed opportunity for those in need. If even a small percentage of the 35 million tons of America’s annual food waste was rerouted to charities or low-income communities, it could really help to reduce hunger.

With these issues in mind, the EPA and the USDA just created the U.S. Food Waste Challenge. This program provides technical assistance, tracking, and motivation to farmers, processors, retailers, and communities as they work to reduce their food waste.

To read more about the Food Waste Challenge, visit the program’s website.

New Project Brings Sustainable Ethnic Food Production to Alabama

riverregionfood — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:35:56 +0000

Chayote plant

USDA funding has just been approved for the Alabama Ethnic Foods Security Network, a project that plans to help farmers grow produce for sale in the state’s expanding Asian and Hispanic food market. The program will promote the production of ethnic vegetables such as chayote, Carribean pumpkin, poblano and other other peppers, specialty radishes, tomatillos, bitter melon, and Malabar spinach.

By stimulating local specialty food production, the project plans to help small and medium sized create a profitable niche for themselves. Dr. Julio Correa, who contributed to the project’s grant application, stated, “As local demand continues to increase, the potential to open new markets increases exponentially, offering production, marketing and economic opportunities to limited-resource farmers who have faced challenges for years.”

To learn more about the Alabama Ethnic Foods Security Network, visit their website.

Take Our Online Food Survey

riverregionfood — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:06:21 +0000

We want to hear directly from you about the River Region’s food!

Our ten minute survey is designed to help us figure out what people in our community are eating and how they feel about their food. Your confidential answers will help us shape our council’s priorities and agenda in the upcoming years.

Follow this link to take the survey: River Region Food System Survey.

Bridge Builders’ April 22nd Listening Session Success!

riverregionfood — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:37:25 +0000

The council teamed up with the Bridge Builders to host a great Listening Session on Monday, April 22!

The Bridge Builders are a group of juniors and seniors from different public, private and parochial schools across the city. Throughout the school year, they work together on community projects, discussions, adventure education and first-hand experiences with community leaders.

On Monday, they sat down with us to share their opinion on the River Region’s food system. After a short presentation by Edwin Marty about how our food gets into stores and onto the table, the thirty participants broke out into small groups. There, the students identified the biggest food issues in our community and brainstormed about solutions to these problems.

We are so thankful for the Bridge Builder’s input!

Listening Sessions are one of the main tools that the food policy council uses to map out our priorities and agenda. If your group would like to host a listening session, please contact us to schedule a date.

Stop Hunger Now Meal Packaging Event on April 13th

riverregionfood — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:05:50 +0000

Stop Hunger Now is dedicated to ending global hunger. As part of its mission, the group sends nutritious meals to schools and orphanages in high-poverty communities and developing countries.

Stop Hunger Now’s meal packaging events are a fun, hands-on way to make a difference and impact the lives of those suffering from hunger. The next local event begins at 1 pm on April 13, 2013, at Auburn University’s RBD Library Newspaper Reading Room.

Visit The Stop Hunger Now website for more information.

Community Commons’ “Make a Map”

riverregionfood — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:01:26 +0000

The Community Commons website’s “Make a Map” program is one of our favorite new online tools! It allows you to make a map using a wide range of public information, including data on the environment, health, income, and food security in your community. In seconds, you can create a map just like the one below, which shows the Montgomery neighborhoods that have the greatest percentage of residents receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as food stamps.

A Place at the Table

riverregionfood — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:35:13 +0000

The makers of Food, Inc. are back with a new documentary named A Place at the Table. The film follows three Americans as they struggle to provide health food for their families, and it also includes expert commentary from some of the nation’s leading experts on poverty and hunger.

The movie is now available On Demand and on iTunes. Check it out today!

‘Coming to the Table’ Survey

riverregionfood — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:55:40 +0000

A group from Auburn University has recently completed a food system survey of more than 200 stakeholders across Alabama. The goal of the study was to identify the biggest problems facing local food systems in the state and to learn about how some communities are addressing these problems. The study’s findings will be used to guide the work of the statewide Alabama Food Policy Council (AFPC).

A couple of the study’s most important findings were:

The majority of respondents (53%) believed that food insecurity and hunger was the most pressing food issue in the state.
Even though the majority of respondents (85%) cared where their food was produced, only 11% said that most of their food was grown in Alabama.

Click here to read all of the Coming to the Table survey results.

Healthier Hospitals Initiative

riverregionfood — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:22:59 +0000

The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) wants to revolutionize the way that hospitals across the nation feed their patients. It works with healthcare groups to provide healthy, fresh produce for meals in hospital cafeterias. Alabama’s own East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika has signed on to participate in the group’s Healthier Food Challenge. To read more about HHI and the Healthier Food Challenge, visit HHI’s website.