APPROVED Meeting Minutes_ATCFPB_03 10 1025 — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board MEETING MINUTES March 10, 2025 The Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board (ATCFPB) convened on Monday, March 10, at the City of Austin Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr, Room 1406, Austin, TX 78752. Board Members in Attendance: Andrea Abel, Marissa Bell, Joi Chevalier, Beth Corbett, Nitza Cuevas, Larry Franklin, Hilda Gutierrez, Kacey Hanson, Natalie Poulos, Matt Simon, Andy Smith Board Members Absent: Lisa Barden, Mark Bethell 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 Chair Joi Chevalier called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION None APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Board Member Kacey Hanson motioned to approve the meeting minutes from the Regular Meeting on February 10, 2025, with Board Member Andrea Abel, seconding the motion. Minutes passed on an 10-0 vote. 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 structure of working groups to align with Board’s overall goals and advocacy efforts. 4. Discuss City of Austin budget engagement process DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. 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. a. Kacey Hanson made a motion to have Marissa Bell serve as the alternate to the JSC with Andrea Abel seconding. The motion passed on a 8-0 vote with 6. Discuss and take possible action on the recommendation to support Goal 1 of the Austin Travis County Food Plan: Expand community food production, preserve agricultural lands, and increase the amount of farmland dedicated to regenerative food production long-term in Austin/Travis County, Board Member Marissa Bell (land acquisition) and Board Member Matt Simon (regenerative agriculture). a. Marissa Bell made a motion to pass the land acquisition recommendation with a second from Andy Smith. i. There was a question from Andrea Abel about the $95,000 allocation and that was staff’s recommendation. ii. The board passed the recommendation on a 10-0 vote with Larry Franklin off the dais. Natalie Poulos left the dais at 7:30 pm. b. Andy Smith made a motion to pass the regenerative agriculture recommendation with a second from Hilda Gutierrez. i. Matt Simon provided information on how the language around the FTE had been updated since the February meeting. ii. There was a suggestion to add specific information about the funding needed ($300,000). iii. There was a question that on the final be it resolved, does the framework get applied to all parkland. Yes, the framework could be applied to all publicly owned land. iv. Marissa Bell made a motion regenerative agriculture recommendation with the friendly amendment and Matt Simon accepted the amendment. to pass the v. The recommendation passed on a 9-0 vote with Larry Franklin off camera and therefore counted off the dais. Larry Franklin left the dais at 7:50 pm. 7. Discuss and take possible action on the recommendation to support Goal 3 of the Austin Travis County Food Plan: Improve farm worker and food worker livelihoods by ensuring a safety net, defining career pathways, expanding training opportunities, and strengthening opportunities for advancement for workers across the local food system, Board Member Nitza Cuevas a. Andy Smith made a motion to pass the recommendation and Andrea Abel and seconded the motion. b. Suggestion to move some of the language from the “therefore be it resolved” section into the “whereas” section. c. Suggestion to reference State of the Food System report when referencing 65k workers d. Adjust for readability with bullet points; define high-road restaurants e. Remove specific reference to unmet needs document but rather pull any additional information or data from GWA cost to implement document into the whereas sections. f. Suggestion to divide the City and County request into two separate recommendations or make this exclusively a City budget request and adding language about joint funding considered g. Suggestion to make the request for $300,000 instead of $292,000 h. The board passed the recommendation with friendly amendments on an 8-0-1 vote with Beth Corbett abstaining. 8. Discuss and take possible action on the recommendation(s) 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 – this item was tabled 9. Discuss and take possible action on the recommendation to support Goal 6 of the Austin Travis County Food Plan: Expand access to nutritious and culturally relevant food in food distribution programs and food retail locations for residents of Austin/Travis County experiencing food insecurity or facing barriers to food access (proximity, mobility, income, and availability) with priority investment in areas of experiencing high rates of food insecurity, Board Member Hilda Gutierrez and Kacey Hanson a. Kacey Hanson described some of the edits that have been made since the February meeting. b. Kacey Hanson made a motion to approve the recommendation for Strategy 6.5 with Andy Smith seconding the motion. c. Suggestion to add a whereas with the definition of where nutritious food is defined as a fundamental human right. d. Suggestion to include reference to WIC where SNAP is referenced. e. Suggestion to add state and federal in the second to last be it further resolved. f. Suggestion to address some of the capitalizations and make those general. g. Suggestion to make City of Austin in the last be it resolved. h. Suggestion to add reference to the Food Plan. i. Suggestion to add Strategy number into the whereas. j. The board voted to pass the recommendation with the friendly amendments on a 7-0-2 vote with Andrea Abel and Beth Corbett abstaining. 10. Report out from the February 26th Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting, Marissa Bell a. Environmental impact statement on the Light Rail was presented to the JSC. b. Received presentation from Austin Civilian Conservation Corps. c. Marissa Bell shared the ATCFPB recommendations to the JSC and provided updates on how they moved on each of those recommendations. Beth Corbett left the dais at 8:26 pm. 11. Discuss Board Member appointments and reappointments, and reminder to do training within 90 days. 12. Review Board Member Assignments and SXSW Presentations. a. Edwin Marty to ask communications team about including board recommendations in dashboard updates. b. Amanda Rohlich to send Unmet Needs Report and budget calendar memo c. Nitza Cuevas to send the cost of implementation document that was developed by Good Work Austin to the Travis County Commissioners Court. d. Nitza Cuevas to make friendly amendments to Item 7 and send to staff e. Hilda Gutierrez and Kacey Hanson to make friendly amendments to Item 9 and send to staff f. Amanda Rohlich to send Food Tank schedule FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion and scheduling of future agenda items ADJOURNMENT Chair Joi Chevalier adjourned the meeting at 8:34 pm. Minutes were approved at the April 14, 2025 full board meeting on Board Member Andy Smith’s motion with Board Member Marissa Bell seconding. Minutes passed on a 10-0 vote.