economic development

New Resources for Learning about Shared Kitchens and Food Business Incubators

Kara Martin Leave a comment

Shared-use commercial kitchens, kitchen incubators, and other food business programs build entrepreneurial opportunities in local food systems by providing affordable commercial kitchen space. These for-profit and nonprofit facilities have been sprouting up around the country in response to the growing market for local, artisan foods. Exciting new business models are emerging and many planners are eager to learn more about them and the regulatory questions they raise. We would like to highlight a couple new resources that may be beneficial to APA members interested in the topic:

NICK Summit is an upcoming gathering of some of the nation’s leading shared kitchens and business incubators that will explore successful incubation programs and kitchen management strategies. The day-long Summit by the Network for Incubator and Commissary Kitchens will be held on October 10, 2018, at The Good Acre in Falcon Heights, MN. The day will include a keynote on kitchen innovations, a panel of impact-driven programs, exciting quick fire sessions, and opportunities to discuss sticky kitchen management issues with peers and experts in the industry. This inaugural event is a collaboration of The Food Corridor, Grow North, The Wallace Center, The Good Acre, and Fruition Planning & Management. Attendees can also take advantage of exciting events at The Inaugural Food | Ag | Ideas Week and Twin Cities Startup Week.

A new reference guide, the Shared Kitchen Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Planning, Launching and Managing a Shared Use Commercial Kitchen, was published earlier this year by The Food Corridor in partnership with Purdue University Extension, with funding from the USDA North Central SARE. This comprehensive resource provides guidance on definitions, business models, funding sources, planning considerations, and daily operations. The Toolkit is available as a free downloadable PDF or wiki.

Should We Still Be Talking About Food Deserts?

Ben 1 Comment

By now, you’ve probably heard about food deserts.  Maybe as part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign to end childhood obesity.  Maybe your state has established a task force to investigate food accessibility.  Perhaps you’ve even mapped a food desert in your own town or city, using tools like the USDA’s Food Environment Atlas.  Though the term “food desert” can mean a variety of things, generally speaking, it refers to places with limited proximity to supermarkets and low rates of vehicle ownership, thus making a simple shopping trip more difficult than in better-served areas.  In many cities, the term also describes distinct racial and income disparities in terms supermarket access.  

Foodland

The term “food desert” isn’t without its own problems.  First, and perhaps most importantly, this neighborhood-based concept doesn’t reflect how people actually live: many shoppers travel beyond the store closest to home, and this includes low-income and limited-mobility households.  By drawing lines around an area (typically using administrative boundaries, like Census tracts), we’re dramatically abstracting the notion of access.

Another issue is that the desert metaphor adopts a deficit orientation.  It’s possible that a neighborhood has a thriving urban garden system, or a robust network of curbside produce vendors, but no supermarket.  By naming a place a food desert, we might overlook or obscure important community food assets.  

Finally, the food desert concept assumes a specific problem and solution: supermarkets are lacking, and should be developed.  Among the many ways to bring healthy, fresh foods to areas without retailers, supermarket development is a large, expensive, and complicated endeavor. To this end, local, state, and federal actors have designed incentive packages to make these projects happen (check out the Heathy Food Access Portal for a variety of examples).

Nevertheless, as a planning researcher, I find some utility in the term.  Many low-income households want to shop at supermarkets, just as higher-income people.  Alternative models, such as farmers’ markets, cooperative groceries, and urban agriculture may all play a role (or, more likely, many roles) in terms of food access, mental and physical wellness, and community development.  Yet, they are hardly a replacement for the supermarket model that most American households use without issue.  The food desert concept can focus attention, and more importantly political, social, and economic capital, to one type of community development.

Indeed, supermarkets are major vehicle of the industrial food system; in many cases, they are also what low-income communities ask for.  This is worth much further exploration, but I offer it here to suggest that these dynamics aren’t straightforward or simple.

Now that I’ve punted on this major philosophical issue, let me offer a couple immediate research questions.  Many supermarket projects already completed, and more in the pipeline, so it makes sense for planning researchers to take stock of these developments and describe their effects.

  • When a new supermarket opens, do smaller stores close?  This is often the fear, and sometimes the case.  If so, what is the impact of these closures, both in terms of economic and social outcomes?
  • This isn’t the first time planners have advocated for supermarkets as elements of downtown revitalization.  What lessons have we learned (or should we learn) from history?
  • What are some of the “false positives” that result from the food desert definition?  For instance, where are places we call food deserts, but, in fact, are not?  Is this because a network of smaller stores effectively fills in?  Do few people actually live there?
  • Alternatively, what about “false negatives?”  Are there areas with supermarkets that are still poorly served?  Is the quality of a neighborhood supermarket so bad that nobody considers it a viable option?  Or, more provocative: how much does access matter when shoppers are poor (i.e. isn’t this just a poverty issue)?

 

Ben Chrisinger, PhD MUEP, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University’s Prevention Research Center and a member of APA-FIG’s Research Working Group.  You can follow him on Twitter, @benchrisinger.

 

Food Systems Planning Events, Sessions & Workshops at the APA 2015 National Planning Conference

kimhodgson 2 Comments

APA2015

The APA-FIG Communications & Outreach Working Group compiled a list of all food systems planning related events, sessions & workshops at the upcoming APA National Planning Conference in Seattle, WA this April 18-21, 2015 at the Washington State Convention Center. This list includes 2 APA-FIG events: the annual business meeting and the annual social networking event.

FIG EVENTS

APA-Food Systems Planning Interest Group Social Networking Event
7 p.m. – 9 p.m. – Sunday, April 19, 2015
Do you study or work on food systems issues? Please join others who care about food systems planning for a fun, informal networking event at Local 360, Chef’s Dining Room | 2234 1st Ave, Seattle, WA.  Local 360 is located in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, just a short walking distance from the conference center. The restaurant emphasizes local sourcing, with the majority of their ingredients falling within a 360 mile radius of Seattle. Space is limited, so reserve your ticket in advance ($10). Appetizers provided, cash bar. This event is sponsored by Growing Food Connections, the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo, and the APA-FIG Leadership Committee. (Note: You do NOT have to be registered for the APA National Planning Conference to attend the FIG social networking event. We welcome planners and allied professionals in the region to join us (there will be the option to pay at the door).)

Food Systems Planning Interest Group Business Meeting
4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Monday, April 20, 2015
Help shape the future of food and agriculture. Join colleagues for an informal meeting of planners interested in food systems planning. The meeting will kick-off the 2015​ ​APA-FIG Action Plan and offer an update of past work and an​ ​opportunity to discuss ideas about the direction and future of the food systems​ ​planning field.

SESSIONS

The Now and Future of Agriculture
1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Saturday, April 18
CM | 1.25, Activity Code: S431
A growing number of regions and communities are finding ways to reap the benefits of farmland. This session will focus on market-based and land-use programs and tools that planners, local governments and nonprofits have used to protect agricultural land in the Puget Sound region.
Speakers: Christy Carr

Urban Agriculture and the Law
1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Sunday, April 19
CM | 1.25, Activity Code: S483
Bettman Symposium Sessions Planning and Law Division Location: WSCC – 6E
Urban agriculture has been sprouting up in municipalities across the country. Join a discussion of policy and planning tools for effectively permitting urban agriculture. The session will cover common legal obstacles and analyze lessons from Seattle, Portland, Chicago, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Speakers: Sorell Negro | David Silverman | Nicole Civita | Carrie Richter

Food System Planning in Cascadia
5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Sunday, April 19
CM | 1.25, Activity Code: S518
Municipal food-system planners from the Cascadian cities of Seattle, Vancouver (British Columbia), and Portland discuss the role city government plays in local food systems. Explore policy making, planning, and programming, as well as lessons from the field.
Speakers: Kara Martin, AICP | Sharon Lerman | Wendy Mendes | Steve Cohen

Improving Food Access and Revitalizing Communities
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Tuesday, April 21
CM | 1.25, Activity Code: S613
There is a growing movement to improve access, awareness, availability, and affordability of quality, healthy food for residents, particularly in underserved areas. See how sustainable community food systems are making an impact in revitalizing communities.
Speakers: Brian Hurd | Aaron Young

WORKSHOPS & DEEP DIVES

Advancing Food Systems Planning and Policy
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Saturday, April 18
CM | 8.0, Activity Code: W400
This interactive day-long workshop will present planning and policy techniques needed to build a community and regional food system. During the morning, attendees will focus on the tools and mechanisms for implementing a food systems plan. The afternoon mobile workshop will explore how food systems concepts have been applied in a series of settings in the Seattle area. Lunch included.

MOBILE WORKSHOPS

Farm-to-Kitchen Sustainable Agricultural Policies
10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Sunday, April 19
CM | 3.75, Activity Code: W006
King and Snohomish counties have implemented innovative regulatory and nonregulatory practices to protect and incentivize farming. Learn firsthand from policy experts and local farmers about the impacts of government policies and programs that support economic development, farmland preservation, and environmental restoration. This tour is part of the work plan of the Sustainable Agriculture & Healthy Food Systems Working Group, part of the APA Washington Chapter’s Ten Big Ideas Initiative designed to bring about far-reaching and fundamental change on a variety of issues. Transportation: Motorcoach, walking. Includes lunch.
Speakers: Andrea Petzel, AICP | Kara Martin, AICP | Megan Horst, AICP

Local Farmland Producing Local Food
CM | 3.5, Activity Code: W018
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Monday, April 20
Tour three agricultural districts close to Seattle: one surrounded by urban development, one in a river valley, and one on a plateau with views toward Mount Rainier. Meet entrepreneurial farmers who supply local farmers markets and stores with their products. Visit with the owners of Canterbury Farms. Take a detour to the Seattle Tilth operation, where would-be farmers learn how grow and market their produce. And stop at Rockridge Orchards, which supplies several local farmers markets with a variety of products. Transportation: Motorcoach, walking.
Speakers: Karen Wolf, AICP

Impact of Seattle’s Local Food Policies
8:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Monday, April 20
CM | 2.0, Activity Code: W019
Seattle’s approach to food policy focuses on expanding access to healthy food, creating opportunities for urban agriculture, and fostering the connection between farmers and the people they feed. This workshop focuses on Seattle’s efforts to expand in-city food production and how this work has increased access to healthy food. The full-day tour includes visits Marra Farm, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, Beacon Hill Food Forest, and the rooftop farm of the Bastille restaurant. Transportation: Motorcoach, walking. 

Cultivating a Thriving Agriculture Economy
7:45 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Tuesday, April 21
CM | 6.0, Activity Code: W039
Enjoy the beauty of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival while meeting the people, organizations, and governments that work to sustain a flourishing agricultural economy. Find out what regulatory, taxing, and community programs are cultivating the area’s prosperity. April is one of the most stunning times to see the Skagit Valley, with its blooming daffodils and world-renowned tulip fields. Leave with a deep understanding that it takes all sectors of a community to create and appreciate the value of place.
Speakers: Lucy Norris | Allen Rozema | Patsy Martin | Kara Symonds | Kathryn Gardow | Tim Rosenhan | Kris Knight | Kirk Johnson, AICP | Stephen Antupit