APPROVED Meeting Minutes ATCFPB 03-01-2021 — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board MEETING MINUTES March 1, 2021 The Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board (ATCFPB) convened on Monday, March 1, 2021 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Board Members in Attendance: Andrea Abel, Felipe Camacho, Joi Chevalier, Emily De Maria, Kacey Hanson, Karen Magid, Sharon Mays, Kara Prior Absent board members: Joy Casnovsky, Ryan Rosshirt, Ellen Sweets Staff in Attendance: Edwin Marty, Amanda Rohlich CALL TO ORDER Board Chair Karen Magid called the meeting to order at 8:06 am CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Tiffany Washington – Should this board talk about water? Who knows about these food policy board meetings? What help has been given to farmers? Olivia Overturf – Concern that she cannot see who is on meeting. Concerned that people are being forced to drink from fire hydrants. Concern with terms like “agrihood”, “food desert”. Concern with equitability of the working groups. Suggests using “ALLANA” term instead of “BIPOC”. Concern about infographic getting put out by SFC. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY MEETING Board Member Kacey Hanson motioned to approve the meeting minutes from February 1, 2021, with Board Member Joi Chevalier seconding the motion. Passed on a 7-0 vote. 2. STAFF BRIEFINGS 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Board Vacancies i. Three vacancies on the board. Felipe Camacho will not be seeing reappointment. Alejandra Rodriguez-Broughton is resigning. ii. Three positions in process of renewal: Ellen Sweets, Andrea Abel, Kacey Hanson iii. Process for appointments – County and City appointments are routed through the City application. All applicants should let Kara Prior know they are interested and Kara will share that information with the full board. The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Edwin Marty, Office of Sustainability at 512-974-2120, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Food Policy Board please contact Edwin Marty at 512-974-2120  4. NEW BUSINESS iv. Comments from Felipe Camacho who will not be seeking reappointment. Believes there needs to be agriculture lawyer to add to the board expertise. a. Board member/Working Group briefings on winter storm i. Board Member Joi Chevalier – Alarming that there was not a food strategy in play for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Response. Food and water were not built into the plan. Was dismissed by a City Council Member on a Community Resiliency Trust meeting when she asked what the food and water plan was. EOC would not commit to additional meals for future days. Spoke to people in Homeland Security and Emergency Management and was told that Austin does not have the an emergency preparedness or response plan for food and water and this board must do something about that. ii. Board Member Sharon Mays – Both restaurant locations lost power and water at 2/15/21. Reached out to EOC about selling inventory to St. David’s Hospital and shelter locations. City, County, Government did not reach out to restaurants to see how they could be a part of the response. There is only two-days’ worth of food in Austin. Food and food access is not a “nice-to-have”, but must be a priority. Hope that the board is able to find a way to push this issue forward. iii. Board Member Kacey Hanson – Which working group is the recommendation going to come from? We need community members to give us input. Take a page from the medical operations playbook. Those making meals for our city should have been provided shelter and had utilities protected. Food and water must rise to the top in emergency response. Those suffering, Black and Brown communities, those with pre- existing conditions, elders, need better from us. iv. Andrea Abel – Produce farmers are considered specialty crops so it is very difficult to get insurance the way that commodity farmers do. Many famers looking at losses –crops, infrastructure, etc. Compounded by climate crisis—how do farmers ride out extreme weather. Looking at 3-5 months without income. In need of bridge funding for employees. Nothing at federal level to support farmers. v. Discussion and take possible action on recommendations i. There is no formal process required for working groups. They can be stood-up ad hoc and meet without the need of posting agendas formally, etc. ii. Discussion if recommendations should come from a working group or from the full group contributing ideas. iii. The pandemic made this situation worse, but the board has been asking for b. Community Engagement and Board Structure more information i. Discuss and take possible action in response to recent working group feedback i. Board statement on response to community input and future community engagement community. 1. Austin Food Notes can be used to communicate information to the 2. Corporate Public Information Office, Economic Development Department, Austin Public Health can all be used to help with communications as well. The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Edwin Marty, Office of Sustainability at 512-974-2120, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Food Policy Board please contact Edwin Marty at 512-974-2120  3. Identify communications staff in departments that work on food issues at the City and establish relationships with those contacts. Ask City Council to direct the City Manager to direct these departments to take that action ii. Board training options on community engagement and racial equity 1. The board needs training. How should they do this and who should provide the training? Need for annual training for continued improvement and to capture new people joining board. iii. Governance Working Group to develop community engagement toolkit c. Budget Recommendations i. Discuss and take possible action on budget recommendations d. Review of Board Member Assignments i. Edwin/Amanda to look for a time for special called board meeting ii. Joi Chevalier to share write-up of recommendations and feedback on winter storm response iii. Edwin/Amanda to get clarity from City Clerk about Board Members working in shared documents (can they be shared separately with groups of three), and about Board Members reposting statements as individuals through their personal social media profiles iv. Kacey Hanson to provide information on community engagement training email to Karen and Kara v. Emily De Maria and Kacey Hanson to take lead on creating a primer to describe the board’s purpose, activities, and provide information about how community can engage with the board and their activities. vi. All board members to discuss community engagement needs with their respective working groups. vii. Edwin to share City Staff working on food issues. viii. Edwin/Amanda to reach out to Alba Sereno to see how the board should work with Community Resiliency ix. Amanda to ask Clerk why people must sign up to citizen communication to listen in. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Edwin Marty Jan-May b. April – b. Training a. Revisit if ATCFPB has any recommendations on legislative agenda; brief updates from a. Brief State Legislative Budget recommendations (Discussion and possible action of Healthy Food Access Working Group Recommendations) c. Presentation from Travis County Corrections - push this training back to May d. Alba Sereno to join future Healthy Food Access WG meeting in February or Full Board in March to provide update on Community Resiliency Planning Process. Cross promote in COVID Response WG. ADJOURNMENT Board Chair Karen Magid adjourned the meeting at 10:04 am The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Edwin Marty, Office of Sustainability at 512-974-2120, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Food Policy Board please contact Edwin Marty at 512-974-2120