Page last updated on October 25, 2021 at 3:29 pm
The City of Bloomington designated 2019 as “The Year of Food” - a year-long campaign to promote food equity in the community and economic opportunities for local farmers. Pursuing goals outlined in the recently approved Sustainability Action Plan, the City’s Year of Food campaign seeks to address issues of food insecurity in the community while simultaneously strengthening the local food economy.
On the equity side, the City is working with local organizations to evaluate the food-related needs of residents and coordinate efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity, while increasing healthy food access and consumption in our community. On the economic side, the City is working to increase connections between the local network of agricultural providers and the local and regional retail and wholesale markets. The City has hired a Value Chain Coordinator to lead these efforts. The position, funded for three years as part of a USDA Local Food Promotion Program Grant Award to Purdue University and Indiana University, is one of four in the state charged with the development of a Value Chain Network increasing local growers’ capacity and resiliency and creating demand for local farm products, especially among large, local institutional buyers.
The City’s Sustainability Action Plan identifies the following 2019 food-related activities, with implementation by both the City and community partners:
- Develop an annual community survey designed to evaluate changes in healthy food access over time.
- Develop a food system asset map of existing groups and efforts related to the functional food system (transportation, etc.) and social support services (restaurants, food banks, etc.).
- Coordinate community efforts to address root causes of food insecurity, healthy food access, productive reuse of vacant land, and economic opportunities and education around the local food system.
- Design and host quarterly, community Healthy Food Fairs, where people can sign up for SNAP and MCCSC food programs, learn about local food resources, etc., and supplement fairs with a web presence to provide access to all resources in one spot.
- Establish a 2019 baseline for the number and size of gardens in the community used to grow food for personal consumption or sale, and a mechanism for tracking this data moving forward.
- Develop a consultation and implementation program to create additional gardens at community locations interested in sponsoring a garden for individuals affiliated with their organization (e.g. churches, neighborhood associations).
- Establish a 2019 baseline measurement of total value and percentage of local food purchases for large institutional buyers, and a mechanism for tracking this information moving forward.
- Hire a local full-time value chain coordinator for the City of Bloomington to assist with initiatives to create economic opportunities for farmers and gardeners.
- Host a community meeting with institutional buyers and local growers to identify challenges and opportunities for collaboration.
Do you have a food-related activity or event to share with the Bloomington community? Please contact sustain@bloomington.in.gov with event details, links and contact information.