At the end of the day, the “Community Brainstorm: Building a Healthy, Hunger-Free DC” session provided interested attendees the opportunity to participate in a discussion about how to build a more just, nourishing food system in DC. As shown by the turnout at Rooting DC, countless nonprofits and individuals are involved in food politics in this city; this session offered space to think about collaborating and creating change.

The food system impacts the environment, the economy, and people, yet there is no centralized agency responsible for it; in DC, at least 13 different city agencies play a role in shaping our local food system.

Carl Rollins of Common Good City Farm pointed out that if we want to change the local food system, we need to get involved—there are currently too few players deciding on the policies, and most of them are non-profit service providers, not necessarily DC residents who have the most at stake. With many groups and nonprofits focused primarily on emergency food distribution, we aren’t always thinking about how to improve the system itself.

Alicia Cameden of the Capital Area Food Bank then explained the concept of a food policy council, which has the potential to improve DC’s fragmented food system. Food policy councils in other cities and states engage with government policy, grassroots projects, businesses and food workers. They serve as forums for the discussion of food issues and coordination between the various sectors of the food system, and can influence government policies.

We broke into four groups to discuss what a healthier, more just food system in DC would look like, and to brainstorm city-wide, grassroots initiatives that could address some of the current problems. At the end, each group shared just a few of their favorite ideas, which included these:

• Form a leadership council to encourage sharing of information
• Better utilize volunteers by developing a centralized volunteer bank
• Emphasize food sovereignty rather than food access; people should have a say in what food they eat
• Appreciate traditional wisdom; learn from individuals who already grow their own food
• Build communities around food; for example, happy hours, potlucks and block parties

Only an hour long, this Community Brainstorm was not intended to create answers but rather to gather interested individuals, begin ongoing conversations, and get ideas flowing. There will be many more chances to share ideas at future sessions, which will be hosted by these and other groups in the upcoming months. In addition, a survey is being created that will explore barriers to food access as well as some of the things that are working well in DC neighborhoods.

There are many ways to get involved, such as helping with the survey or attending or hosting an upcoming discussion. For more information, contact Allison Burket at aburket@breadforthecity.org.

The session was sponsored by the DC Food Justice Coalition, Bread for the City, SHIRE, DC Hunger Solutions, Common Good City Farm, Ecolocity, Groundwork Anacostia, Healthy Solutions, MWPHA Health Disparities Committee, ROC-DC, and others.

Does a highly profitable, high-end supermarket chain really merit an $8 million tax break to encourage it to open a store in a development-rich area of the District?  That’s the question that will be posed to the DC Council when it considers a property tax abatement proposal, reported last week by the Washington Post, to bring a Whole Foods near Nationals Park.

The city should be investing in economic development to create jobs, attract businesses and residents, and revitalize neighborhoods.  However, the District’s elected leaders have adopted a slew of tax abatements in recent years with no process to differentiate the worthwhile projects from the not-so-worthwhile.  In the case of Whole Foods’ proposal, it’s perfectly reasonable to wonder why the project would need any subsidy in the first place, given the amount of development that has already been attracted to the area.  And it is perfectly reasonable to ask what benefits the developer will provide the city in return.

Proponents of this proposal need to explain why it makes sense for the District to continue putting money into an area that has seen tremendous public investments and is already on the cusp of development.   The recently released Unified Economic Development Budget (UEDB) illustrates that Ward 6, where the proposed Whole Foods would be located, received 39 percent of the District’s economic development expenditures in 2010.  That includes the baseball stadium and a number of nearby projects that were supposed to provide the stimulus for the area to develop. Why should the District invest more in the ballpark area, when areas such as Ward 7 have gotten less than 5 percent of economic development expenditures?

And why does this project require a special subsidy to move forward in the first place?  This Whole Foods already would qualify for a set of tax incentives for grocery store development, including a 10–year property tax break on the store itself.  Moreover, while some projects near Nationals Park have languished in the recession, this area is likely to be part of the emerging rebound, thanks in part to prior public investment by the District.  Finally, if a Whole Foods will revitalize this neighborhood as it did in Logan Circle, why won’t private market interests step up to make it happen?

What benefits will the developers behind Whole Foods provide the District in exchange for a taxpayer subsidy?  Last fall, the developer of a boutique luxury hotel in Adams Morgan committed that a majority of construction hours and permanent hotel jobs would be filled by DC residents, in return for a substantial tax break from the city.   The Whole Foods developer has made no such commitments.

Before passing yet another commercial property tax break, the Mayor and Council should take a moment to consider the sorts of questions we have raised here and in the past.  Passing Councilmember Michael Brown’s Exemptions and Abatements Information Requirements Act would be an important step toward helping the Council to ask the right questions about the Whole Foods project and other abatement proposals.  A careful consideration of the costs and benefits of the Whole Foods project will help the Council determine whether investment in the project would be worthwhile or wasteful, and give District residents greater confidence that their money is being spent wisely.

The bill has two main components: the first establishes a “Grocery Store Development Program” within the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. A designated “grocery ambassador” will assist retailers in building or renovating grocery stores in eligible, low-income areas. Beyond the work of the ambassador, the program for grocery stores is required to draw federal funds from national programs. (Learn more about efforts to expand a federally-funded Healthy Food Financing Initiative here.)

As part of the program, the legislation also revises and streamlines current Supermarket Tax Incentive structures. Rather than using the more arbitrarily and politically-drawn Public Enterprise Zones in place now, the FEED DC Act would establish new areas of eligibility for supermarkets receiving tax breaks and other incentives, based on census data on income levels and poverty.

For smaller scale, creative, or more immediate retail strategies, the bill’s second major title establishes a program to offer funding and technical assistance for “small food retailers” – including farmers markets, corner stores, fruit and veggie carts, and food co-operatives. The $300,000 appropriated for 2011 would fund the establishment of the “Healthy Food Retail Program,” including a small grant program, within the Department of Small and Local Business, likely to be rolled out by late spring.

Reactions & Revisions

The FEED DC Act was originally introduced as a skeleton of a bill in July of this year. After a series of working group session and a public hearing, the legislation went through several revisions, including a significant shift in focus to supporting and expanding smaller-scale healthy retailers, farmers markets in particular. Whereas many of the initiatives in other states and cities place priority on brick-and-mortar grocery store development, according to Lori Glass of the Reinvestment Fund, DC’s program supports a broader scope of programs and places more priority on innovative solutions to DC’s food deserts. (See the testimony from the Ward 8 Farmer’s Market for a strong statement on the important role of farmer’s markets in supporting healthy food access.) Also, while the FEED DC Act does not itself leverage any funds for grocery store development, Lori Glass explained that having a program in place will give DC a competitive edge in seeking external funds.

The original version of the bill did not include the more simplified and targeted eligibility zones, which a number of groups called for in October’s public hearing and which was then included in the bill’s revised draft in November (See the analysis of DC Fiscal Policy Institute for more). The final version also includes stronger standards for grocery stores and other retail receiving FEED DC incentives – they are required to offer fresh produce and to apply to accept SNAP and WIC benefits (also something many groups called for, including DC Hunger Solutions). Encouraging job-creation is another main impetus behind the program, though the bill only “strongly encourages” stores to employ DC residents.

What’s missing?

“A lot of things we mentioned at the hearing found its way into the final version,” said Tanikka Cunningham from Healthy Solutions. “But one thing that we still believe is missing is that there is no real component of community ownership.” Healthy Solutions has been delivering healthy foods into Ward 7 and 8 since 2006, Cunningham told me, and if called upon and supported financially, could quickly implement a healthy foods distribution system to bring affordable fresh produce into existing corner stores. Currently, the bill calls for the convening of a working group “to develop a plan for establishing a commercial distribution system” to maximize the buying power of corner stores.

The bill also fails to address one central critique of similar healthy food financing initiatives around the country – the actual impact on eating patterns or health disparities of a greater grocery store presence in food deserts has not been demonstrated. One Ward 7 corner store owner told a reporter for the Washington Examiner that says he sells potatoes and onions, but “what we really need are clientele” interested in purchasing those items.  “My experience working with DC summer youth,” said advocate Carl Rollins in his October testimony, “is that dietary messages need to be repeated over and over again to have any chance of being a counterpoint to the onslaught of unhealthy media images.” The bill does mention that University of the District of Columbia “may provide nutrition education” to people in the community, but there is no support for widespread or community-based nutrition education efforts.

Check back for follow-up coverage of the bill’s implementation, or share your perspective on the program in the comments below. Click here for the final draft of the legislation, or here for more information on the Act on Councilmember Mary Cheh’s website. For more information on food deserts in DC, see DC Hunger Solution’s report.

Questions have also been raised that the FEED DC Act, which will by voted on by the council in December of this year, could provide subsidies for the mega-corporation under its incentive program to bring grocery sellers to the District’s under-served neighborhoods.  Fortunately, the language in the FEED DC Act (the most recent version on which was published on November 8^th)  seems to preclude Wal-Mart applying for funds or other tax and zoning breaks that the act provides for food retailers.  By any definition, Wal-Mart is not a “corner store”, a “farmers market”, or even a grocery store, which the authors of the act define as having “a primary business selling groceries.”  Nor is it clearly a “small food retailer”, given that the stores planned for DC will be from 80,000 to 120,000 square feet in size.  Given all of these factors, Wal-Mart should not be receiving any sort of incentive under the FEED DC Act.  It is fair to worry that policies intended to aid local small businesses and alleviate unequal social conditions such as lack of access to healthy food will instead by used to draw large corporations into DC, but it does appear that the authors of the FEED DC Act have been careful as to how they define who can take the benefits that the Act will provide.

However, this fact is unlikely to completely set to rest concerns over Wal-Mart’s business and labor practices.  The debate over whether or not large corporations such as Wal-Mart can have a hand in social change is ongoing, but given Wal-Mart’s status as a business it can be assumed that their profit margin and the happiness of their investors will always be their number one goal,  no matter how many charities they donate too or how they try to market their business ventures as acts of social good.

Thanks to Carl Rollins and the other DC Food for all Google Group members for their research, links, and interesting dicussion on this issue.  Other DC Food For All posts on the FEED DC Act can be found here and here.

When I think about money and my childhood, I remember my parents talking about their credit card debt and being told at McDonalds that our family could not afford Happy Meals. I knew we didn’t have money for the extras like weekly trips to eat out, but it was only as a young adult that I understood just how little my parents were working with.

When I took a few classes at the local public high school, my Mom sent me to the school office to ask about Free and Reduced Lunch. I brought home the income requirements and found out that we were well within the limits for Free Lunch. Then, when my parents became pregnant with my little brother, we signed up for the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program.

Our family had just one income by choice — my father worked and my mother stayed home to raise and educate me and my siblings. Despite our economic situation, I have a lot of privilege — I have white skin, we were considered middle class because of my father’s job, and I received a fabulous education, among other things.

I’m deeply grateful for the food programs that helped stretch our budget. Thanks to the WIC program, Free Meals, and — as a recent college graduate — Food Stamps, I had a healthy, happy, parent-filled childhood, and the financial support to get started in a new city. It’s been four short years since I graduated from college and moved to DC, and I’m in a job that I love, doing good work and contributing to the tax base. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share my privilege and help grow the investments that were made to get me where I am today.

Unfortunately, the support I received as a young adult is not guaranteed for all DC residents who need it. Funding has been cut for safety net programs like IMA Service Centers, where people apply for Food Stamps. At the same time, our income tax structure has stayed the same — the top tax bracket (8.5%) starts at $40,000/year. Save Our Safety Net and other groups are suggesting a better choice: the City Council should create a new tax bracket of 9.5% for income over $200,000. For less than the cost of a latte a day to most households in the top 5%, our city could bring in about $75 million in new revenue. If you agree that we need more investments in the safety net, take action by sending an email to Vince Gray today.

What kind of a safety net do you want to have, for yourself and your neighbors? What tax structure would help us make the public investments our city needs?

“Why do we have food deserts?” asked Councilmember Mary Cheh during a public hearing on the FEED DC Act on Monday, October 18th – a bill aiming to improve access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food in DC’s underserved communities.

Introduced last July by Councilmembers Cheh, Tommy Wells, Kwame Brown, and David Catania, the “Food, Environmental, and Economic Development in the District of Columbia Act” has three main purposes: to improve access to healthy food for residents of DC’s food deserts; to support a clean environment and encourage green job growth in DC; and to create jobs for DC residents.

The impetus for this bill comes from multiple directions – the obesity epidemic in DC, economic inequality in the District, and the need for city government revenue. In particular, a recent report from DC Hunger Solutions highlighted the uneven distribution of grocery stores across DC’s neighborhoods -  for example, Ward 3 has five times as many full-service grocers per resident as Ward 4. This “grocery gap” disproportionately impacts low-income communities and communities of color, and severely limits many families’ ability to access healthy affordable food. Families are forced to travel long distances or to rely on the cheap highly-processed unhealthy foods in corner stores, a phenomenon that contributes to the city’s obesity epidemic.

Hoping to address these concerns, the FEED DC Act will create a public/private partnership to attract and renovate stores that will sell fresh and healthy foods in underserved communities.

A “Grocery Store Financing Program” of grants, loans and tax credits would be administered by a “grocery ambassador” in the Mayor’s office, accompanied by a “Healthy Corner Store Program” to support and expand the ability of existing corner stores to serve fresher and healthier options. As part of this program, the District would help establish a commercial distribution system for fresh produce and healthy foods to corner stores. This “comprehensive, coordinated effort,” Cheh explained, will not interfere with the existing DC budget; it will largely be “reallocating resources we already have,” aiming to be fiscally and socially responsible.

Why are there food deserts?

Encouraged by Councilmember Cheh, each of the witnesses during Monday’s hearing returned to the question of why food deserts exist in the first place. Alex Ashbrook of DC Hunger Solutions had one answer: grocery stores tend to build in places where they can minimize their risks, which are typically high-income communities where they can be sure that customers have the money to purchase from them. Building on that interpretation, Tanikka Cunningham from Healthy Solutions noted that produce items tend to have low profit margins to begin with: “You aren’t going to turn around and have 100% profit on an apple.”

Most witnesses also highlighted the role of certain stereotypes that inform the perception that building grocery stores in certain neighborhoods would be higher-risk. Food For All contributor and community advocate Carl Rollins pointed to the role of racism and racist policies in forming today’s food deserts, which are primarily found in African-American neighborhoods. These neighborhoods suffered for decades under “redlining” practices in which banks would deny investment to certain areas with high percentage African-American.

Will FEED DC do the job?

So, how well will the FEED DC Act do in reversing these factors? The consensus of the witnesses at Monday’s hearing seemed to be that the bill’s first draft is a great start, but to ensure the programs will genuinely support healthy food access in the communities that need it, many important adjustments and expansions are needed. (Video of the hearing and full testimonies from each of the witnesses can be found here)

In particular, the bill could better target the program’s incentives towards the neighborhoods that stand to benefit the most. Ed Lazere of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and other witnesses recommend using census data to determine eligible low and moderate-income neighborhoods with limited healthy food access, rather than offering subsidies to grocery stores within Public Enterprise Zones (which currently include parts of Chinatown and Columbia Heights).  The bill could also do more to guarantee that stores and companies receiving subsidies are equipped to accept SNAP and WIC benefits – currently less than 50 percent of the full-service grocery stores accept WIC benefits.

Furthermore, many witnesses pointed out that there many ways to improve food access and food security beyond brick and mortar stores (a concern raised when the bill was first introduced). Mark McCaffry of Capital Area Food Bank called for a more “comprehensive approach to food access” — one that recognizes and supports the diverse ways communities access healthy foods and work to improve food security. Farmers markets, food co-ops, food trucks, school and community gardens, and other forms of urban agriculture have a key role to play, but would receive no support from the bill as it is written. Many of these initiatives are already underway, but with insufficient support from the DC government, argued Tanikka Cunningham from Healthy Solutions, who emphasized that “in order for anything to have an impact on the community, the community has to have a stake in it.”

Such community-based programs and initiatives also have a key role to play on the “demand side” of the equation. Carl Rollins pointed out that despite the enormous success of the Pennsylvania programs, “I don’t believe that we have hard data on whether or not actual eating patterns have changed and health disparities have alleviated.” He called for a more “robust nutrition education program,” one that recognizes the role of “school gardens, public land for community gardens, and urban agriculture as a mechanism to teach proper nutrition and promote wellness.”

Farmers markets, which offer fresh and healthy foods in communities, also provide an important place for nutrition education and exchanging tips on fresh food preparation. Ward 8 and Georgetown Farmer’s Market Managers and witnesses from the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association each argued that could stand to benefit from both fiscal and regulatory support from legislation like the FEED DC Act and called for a Farmers Market title, which Concilmember Cheh announced would be added to the bill’s final version.

All together, the FEED DC Act makes a strong start towards addressing many of the causes of food deserts. Food deserts in DC do not exist in a vacuum; decades of racist economic practices have left many predominantly African-American neighborhoods in DC without a strong business base or job growth. The lack of healthy foods in these neighborhoods has contributed to a public health crisis that costs the District of Columbia millions of health care dollars every year. A bill that supports expanding healthy food access points while also creating jobs for DC residents, creating revenue for the District, and hopefully leading to a better quality of life for thousands of people, is something to be excited about.

The updated version of the bill was recently released and is expected to include many of the proposed expansions or revisions. One final working group meeting on October 28 will solicit feedback on the final legislation – visit Mary Cheh’s website to learn more or to check for the latest updates. DC Food For All will also be posting more information and perspectives on the FEED DC Act, check back soon!

Now, USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon has requested a visit. Concannon, who serves as secretary of food, nutrition, and consumer services, will be at the market this Wednesday, October 13, from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. Gus Schumacher, chairman of the Wholesome Wave Foundation, which helps support Fresh Checks and outreach, will also appear. The main event is the Nutrition Incentive and SNAP Outreach Plan demonstration. The special guests will make public comments at 3:25 p.m.

Contact crossroadsmarket at gmail.com if you’re interested in attending. Read on for more information from the press release — and for pictures.

From the official press release:

Crossroads Farmers Market Nutrition Incentive and SNAP Outreach Plan Demonstration

October 13, 2010

2:45 – 3:45

Crossroads Farmers Market

7676 New Hampshire Avenue

Takoma Park, MD 20912

We are very pleased to formally invite you to join USDA Undersecretary Kevin Concannon and Wholesome Wave Chairman Gus Schumacher in attending our Nutrition Incentive and SNAP Outreach Plan Demonstration on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 from 2:45 – 3:45 PM. We will be most honored if you could attend.

During your visit, our staff will be implementing its successful “Fresh Checks” program. This season, over $24,000 in Fresh Checks has been distributed as of October 2010. Over 1000 low-income families have attended the market and benefited from our “nutrition incentive” programs. The “Fresh Checks” program matches SNAP, WIC Cash Value Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers, and WIC and Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program funding up to $8 per market day when spent at our Crossroads Farmers Market.

Crossroads staff will also be implementing their extremely successful SNAP Outreach program. This SNAP outreach program was recently included in the Maryland State SNAP Outreach Plan. The inclusion, along with $5000 in matching funding from Wholesome Wave, has enabled us to hire Rosa Sanchez, a community member, to perform SNAP Outreach each market day and throughout the week at other community events. From June 9, 2010 to September 16, 2010, Rosa has performed outreach to 941 individuals, conducted 460 pre-screenings, and completed 103 SNAP applications, many of whom are returning to Crossroads to benefit from “Fresh Checks” for local healthy produce.

We would be most pleased if you would join us for the following agenda:

2:45-3:00pm: Informal introductions of Undersecretary Concannon by Gus Schumacher, Michelle Dudley, and Michele Levy for Crossroads staff, vendors, and board members, and visiting Maryland Department of Agriculture, regional, state and local SNAP and WIC officials.

3:00 – 3:25pm:Review of “Fresh Checks” and SNAP Outreach program in operation

3:25- 3:45pm: Public comments by Secretary Concannon, Gus Schumacher, and Maryland Department of Agriculture and Crossroads Staff. This will include a celebration of the market’s successful season and the announcement of the inclusion of Crossroads in the Maryland SNAP Outreach Plan.

Please let us know if you will be able to attend this event. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Michele Levy at 301.356.1020 or crossroadsmarket at gmail.com.

Photos, from top: USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon (USDA.gov); Crossroads staff pose at the welcome table of the market (by the author); Rosa Sanchez runs the SNAP outreach booth at the market and a sign advertises the outreach in English and Spanish (courtesy of Crossroads).

So on 10.10.10, 350 is organizing mass actions at the White House and the Washington Monument, designed to send messages to the White House and Congress, urging them to take the lead on stopping climate change.

Meanwhile, here in the District of Columbia, we are getting to work. Members of the DC Food For All are convening workdays at community garden sites across the city.

Then we’ll all join together at Bread for the City Northwest to celebrate with the Hip Hop Caucus, Roadside Organics, and Live Green. Local chefs preparing local food with local hip hop acts in the early afternoon, and a community potluck of sustainable food in the evening. Sneak previews of Bread for the City’s new facility, complete with green roof-top garden.

See the Kickstarter page for the Sustainable Food Block Party here. The event is free, but donations will go to help build Bread for the City’s new rooftop community garden.

With that announced, sign up for one of the events below!

Groundwork Anacostia invites you to the Mayfair Community Center (3744 1/2 Hayes Street N.E.), a new community garden site, where volunteers will help build build raised beds, lay soil, and learn about community gardening techniques and strategies. They need 15-20 volunteers to get down and dirty. The action will be from 9am-12pm, followed by rides back to Bread for the City NW for the Sustainable Food Block Party. Contact Dennis Chestnut of Groundwork Anacostia or email dcfoodforall@gmail.com.

The Farm at Walker Jones needs 5 to 10 volunteers to help building a new compost bin. Come see our 3/4 acre farm in the middle of the city, check out our composting system and our large worm farm. 9-noon on 10/10/10. The Farm at Walker Jones is located at the corner of NJ and K Streets NW. Contact sidraforman@gmail.com for more information.

The Virginia Avenue Park Community Garden (corner of L St & 9th St SE) invites you to a fall harvest gathering! From 12-4pm, bring friends and family to learn how-to plant your own food, care for it, and harvest it. Get gardening tips and tricks and try them out in our garden! Volunteers will be needed before and at the event, for planting, harvesting, and compost-turning. Before the event, volunteers can help make, print, and hand-out flyers. Email Karin Edgett and check out their Facebook Page.

There will also be a big bike tour, sponsored by WABA, of most of these sites and more! Email DCFoodForAll@gmail.com for more info. And stay tuned…