Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board MINUTES MEETING April 14, 2025 The Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board (ATCFPB) convened on Monday, April 142 at the City of Austin Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr, Room 1406, Austin, TX 78752. Board Members in Attendance: Andrea Abel, Lisa Barden, Marissa Bell, Mark Bethell, Beth Corbett, Nitza Cuevas, Larry Franklin, Natalie Poulos, Matt Simon, Andy Smith Board Members Absent: Joi Chevalier, Hilda Gutierrez, Kacey Hanson Staff in Attendance: Edwin Marty (City of Austin), Amanda Rohlich (City of Austin), Angela Baucom (City of Austin), Yaira Robinson (Travis County) CALL TO ORDER Vice-Chair Lisa Barden called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION Aliya Amanzholova – Promoting Eat for Impact APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Board Member Andy Smith motioned to approve the meeting minutes from the Regular Meeting on March 10, 2025, with Board Member Marissa Bell, seconding the motion. Minutes passed on an 10-0 vote. Mark Bethell joined the dais at 6:10 pm. STAFF BRIEFING 2. Briefing on Austin-Travis County Food Plan Implementation, Edwin Marty, Food Policy Manager at City of Austin and Yaira Robinson, Assistant Director of Environmental Programs at Travis County (see back-up materials for presentation). DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. Discuss the impact of current executive orders and federal funding to Central Texas Food Bank, Board Member Beth Corbett a. Federal program authorized in the Farm Bill that provides commodity products to food banks across the Feeding America network. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is administered through state agencies. Cancellations led to 40 FTLs which is about one million pounds of food. Partners can expect fewer items on the shopping list for now. If these cuts continue this could mean less food for partners. Central Texas Food Bank is spending $1m per month to make up shortfall. Retailers are also becoming more efficient leading to less donations. Budget reconciliation package, some of the cost burden is shifting to states and you may expect a rise in demand from the charitable food network. Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program was created under previous administration and allowed the food bank to purchase from producers directly. CTFB purchased about 600,000 pounds of produce in FY 23 and over 1 million pounds in FY 24. Local Food for Schools funding was local food purchasing incentives that allowed schools to purchase food from producers and this funding has also been lost. Opportunity to also promote Double Up Food Bucks to get the administration to put support behind programs like that. Texas could also implement Summer EBT. Thirty- seven states have implemented Summer EBT, but Texas has not. This has not impacted the Central Texas Food Bank pilot food hub. The Regional Council, funded through USDA grant funding, is also moving forward. New Director of Food System Planning at the Central Texas Food Bank will be starting and leading that work. Double Up Food Bucks has continued funding as of now. 4. TABLED - Discuss the recommendation to support Goal 4 of the Austin Travis County Food Plan: Establish and fund a resilient, inclusive, and accessible emergency food provision system that ensures all community members, regardless of cultural background or medical needs, have access to safe, nutritious, and culturally relevant food during disasters and emergencies, Board Member Joi Chevalier 5. Reminder of tasks needed for reappointments including taking necessary trainings. There is both an in-person and virtual training. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 6. Discuss and take possible action on appointing a representative and alternate from the Austin Travis County Food Policy Board to serve as a liaison to the Joint Sustainability Committee liaison. Lisa Barden made a motion to nominate Andy Smith as the primary liaison to the JSC with Beth Corbett seconding the motion. The motion was approved on a 10-0 vote. 7. Discuss and take possible action on appointing a Chair and Vice Chair to the Austin Travis County Food Policy Board. Marissa Bell motioned to appoint Joi Chevalier as Chair with Nitza Cuevas seconding the motion. The motion passed on a 10-0 vote. Beth Corbett motioned to appoint Lisa Barden as Vice-Chair with Andrea Abel seconding the motion. The motion passed on a 10-0 vote. 8. Report out from the March 26th Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting, Marissa Bell. a. Received presentation on the Austin Core Transportation (ACT) Plan. b. Received presentation on CAP Metro sustainability. c. Received a presentation from OCAR regarding a proposal for an Internal Climate and Efficiency Revolving Fund designed to reduce operational costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across City facilities. The fund would be seeded with initial capital (current concept: $5M) to cover startup costs, including staff time. Funds would be invested in projects that reduce GHG emissions or generate cost savings (e.g. lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades, weatherization). Savings or revenue generated from these projects would be reinvested into the fund to support future sustainability initiatives. d. Budget Recommendations passed in alignment with ATCFPB: i. $75 K allocated to OCAR for community outreach and education on benefits and opportunities to eat more pro-climate/pro-health foods ii. $150 K allocated to OCAR for a market and infrastructure assessment of the F2 Institution supply chain to identify gaps, opportunities, and solutions for enhancing local food procurement, strengthen food hub infrastructure, and expand the farm to school network iii. $50 K for agricultural land inventory (potential acquisition & already owned) iv. $2 M to establish a revolving loan fund dedicated to preserving farmland through conservation easements or direct land purchases, prioritizing regenerative ag. v. $50 K to expand the Food and Climate Equity (FACE) grant program to fund 5 resilient farm plans vi. $200,000 to support a pilot project for developing and implementing a Resilient Farm Plan (AKA a “carbon sequestration plan”) at a municipal park such as John Trevino Park to serve as a model for potential expansion across 17,000 acres of publicly owned parkland 9. Review Board Member Assignments. a. Staff to send more Travis County Parks Comprehensive Planning engagement opportunities b. Yaira Robinson to share Travis County related recommendations to Commissioners Court. c. Andy Smith to coordinate with Board Members on advocacy to Commissioners Court. d. Staff to alert Clerk’s Office of JSC appointment as well as Chair and Vice-Chair appointments. e. Lisa Barden following up on necessary trainings for reappointment. f. If any board members you are interested in Eat for Impact report back at future board meeting, reach out to Angela Baucom. g. Travis County Community Needs Assessment Recap is on April 29th; Edwin Marty to get confirmation that this will not create a walking quorum if more than 6 board members attend. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion and scheduling of future agenda items: Integrated Bond Task Force presentation in May; Qualitative research coding as compared to AI coding in May; Agricultural Exemption Briefing presentation in June ADJOURNMENT Vice-Chair Lisa Barden adjourned the meeting at 7:28 pm. Minutes were approved at the May 12, 2025 full board meeting on Board Member Andy Smith’s motion with Board Member Marissa Bell seconding. Minutes passed on a 10-0 vote.