Special Meeting of the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board August 10, 2020 Meeting of the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board to be held August 10, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance by August 9, 2020 at noon. All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the August 10th Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison, Amanda Rohlich, at Amanda.Rohlich@austintexas.gov no later than noon on Sunday, August 9th. The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to Amanda.Rohlich@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. AUSTIN-TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD POLICY BOARD MONDAY, AUGUST 10TH FROM 10:00 TO 11:30 AM VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Karen Magid, Chair Andrea Abel Ellen Sweets Ryan Rosshirt Emily Nicola CALL TO ORDER AGENDA Kara Prior, Vice Chair Felipe Camacho Kacey Hanson Sharon Mays Joi Chevalier a. Office of Sustainability: Update on COA Pandemic Food Access Efforts, Edwin Marty, 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE MEETING 2. STAFF BRIEFINGS Food Policy Manager 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Board Infrastructure & Protocol i. Review Board Members’ meetings with City and County Officials b. Board vacancies and appointments 4. NEW BUSINESS a. Board Annual Report and responsibilities i. Discuss Annual Board Internal Review report ii. Discuss annual strategic planning meeting iii. Discuss vote and take possible action on Board Chair and Vice-Chair Positions b. Update on Community Climate Plan Revision c. Working Group Briefings and Recommendations i. Build Opportunities for Food Entrepreneurs ii. Support Farms & Farmers iii. Healthy Food Access to All Communities iv. COVID-19 Food System Response d. …
City of Austin – Food Access Response to COVID-19 FOOD POLICY MANAGER CITY OF AUSTIN Background •Austin Public Health asked the Office of Sustainability Food Team to take on the food access response to the Pandemic •Emergency Operations Center – Social Services Branch •Utilized existing relationships • Food Access Coordination group Food Access Task Force •Primary functions: • Coordination • Communications • Funding and Policy Food Access and Emergency Food •Existing barriers to food access exacerbated by pandemic response •Identify and meet immediate needs in priority populations plan ahead for ongoing needs keeping ahead of on-going changes to food insecurity •Initiatives: • Food distribution to populations experiencing homelessness (EAT Initiative) • PPE for organizations • Direct distribution to individuals (grocery boxes/prepared meals) • Farmers Market support • Food recovery •Continue tracking emerging food access needs: • Caregiver meals at schools • WIC shopping pilot program Communications •Interagency Task Force communications •EOC reporting structure •United Way/2-1-1 + ConnectATX • Map of food resources •Facilitate connections between organizations Food Access/Food Distribution Models •Keep Austin Together •Neighborhood Pop-Up Grocery Model •Good Apple Policy and Funding •State and federal policy tracking • Federal relief legislation • Changes to SNAP and other nutrition programs • P-EBT outreach •Local funding – OOS, APH, Travis County HHS, All Together ATX •Brief Council members, EOC Social Services Branch, City Management on critical food access needs, funding needs Data Collection Project with UT-SPH and Dell Med Pop Health Anecdotal evidence/understanding of increases in food access needs Purpose: Identify high-need populations (geographic areas, populations, specific barriers, etc.) Planning currently informed by existing data and organizations participating in Food Access Task Force Expanding network, but need to capture full scope of food access barriers and emerging needs Conversations with UT-SPH and with Dell Med Goal: Identify highest-need populations to inform resource allocation and ongoing food access planning What’s next? •Planning for next steps • Extension of emergency feeding programs/funding • How long will the “official” pandemic response last? •Food Policy Board recommendation •Incorporate UT findings into policy and planning work •Regional Food Systems Collaborative •Food systems resilience planning •SNAP Incentive Working Group • Recommendation for HSSC in October
