Austin Travis County Food Policy BoardMarch 10, 2025

20250310-06B: Defining and Supporting Regenerative Agriculture — original pdf

Recommendation
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BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board Recommendation Number: 20250310_6B: Defining and Supporting Regenerative Agriculture WHEREAS, the 2022 City of Austin State of the Food System Report indicates that 21% of all greenhouse gas emissions in our community are related to the food supply chain; and WHEREAS, implementing Regenerative Agriculture supports the goals of the Austin Climate Equity Plan, which aims to ensure that by 2030, 100% of Austinites, especially those who are food insecure, can access a pro-climate, pro-health food systems that prioritize regenerative agriculture; and WHEREAS, the goals and strategies in the Austin/Travis County Food Plan, approved by the Austin City Council in October 2024, prioritize regenerative agriculture implementation, with reference to “regenerative agriculture” and food systems occurring 44 times throughout the document; and WHEREAS, the Austin/Travis County Food Plan states that a specific definition of Regenerative food production may need to be adopted to implement strategies under Goal 1, which pertain to agricultural land use (1.1,1.2) and community food systems support (1.6,1.12); and WHEREAS, a more specific definition is contained within the Resilient Farm Planning framework, which utilizes Conservation Practice Standards codified by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and quantifies the resulting greenhouse gas benefits; and WHEREAS, the Resilient Farm Planning process has seen wide adoption and proof of concept in California for over a decade, with 137 Resilient Farm Plans (called Carbon Farm Plans in California) encompassing 71,440 acres; and WHEREAS, the Resilient Farm Planning process can be also be applied to outdoor spaces such as parks, flood plain, and greenbelts; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin Office of Sustainability has previously allocated funds for Texas’ First Resilient Farm plan at the Refugee Collective Farm, written and implemented with technical assistance from National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and Carbon Cycle Institute (CCI). This establishes a precedent of city support for collaborative plan implementation; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin currently lacks a dedicated mechanism to assist with the writing and implementation of Resilient Farm Plans; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin Food and Climate Equity (FACE) Grant is a current funding mechanism available to farmers that supports a more just and resilient Austin by providing direct funding for community-led solutions that enable transformative change in the areas of food, climate, and resilience; and WHEREAS, the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board’s Recommendation Number 20240318-7 urged the City of Austin to allocate funds and create a full-time equivalent (FTE) position to support the implementation of the Food Plan; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board encourages the Austin City Council to adopt the Resilient Farm Planning Framework and its subsequent NRCS Conservation Practice Standards as the specific definition of Regenerative Agriculture in the Austin area; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board encourages the Austin City Council to allocate funds and explore all available means in order to establish a dedicated interdepartmental management mechanism, such as a dedicated city department or full-time equivalent staff (FTE), to oversee and coordinate the promotion and implementation of urban agriculture efforts, including the resilient farm planning process. This position could also coordinate the implementation of other food plan strategies such as those related to land access and use (Recommendation 20250310- 06A related to Food Plan Strategies 1.1, 1.2, and Recommendation 20250210-003 related to Food Plan Strategy 1.12); and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board recommends that Austin City Council, in accordance with strategy 1.10 of the Food Plan, increases grant funding for climate smart agriculture, such as through an expansion of the existing Food and Climate Equity (FACE) grant by $50,000 to include Resilient Farm Planning grants of $10,000 each for 5 agricultural producer recipients, utilizing outside technical assistance from organizations such as NCAT and CCI for the writing of the plans if necessary; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board recommends that Austin City Council allocate $350,000 for the writing of the Resilient Farm Planning framework on all 17,000 acres of publicly owned parkland, as well as any underutilized outdoor spaces to work towards the city’s net zero goals utilizing a predictive, quantifiable model. Date of Approval: March 10, 2025 Record of the vote: Andy Smith made a motion to pass the regenerative agriculture recommendation with a second from Hilda Gutierrez. The recommendation passed on a 9-0-0 vote. Vote in Favor: Andrea Abel, Marissa Bell, Joi Chevalier, Beth Corbett, Nitza Cuevas, Hilda Gutierrez, Kacey Hanson, Matt Simon, Andy Smith Vote Against: Abstaining: Absent: Lisa Barden, Mark Bethell, Larry Franklin, Natalie Poulos Attest: City of Austin, Office of Climate Action and Resilience, Food Policy Manager/ ATCFPB Staff Liaison