Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

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Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Agenda
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Overview Neighborhood Food Assessment
• Framework for Study
• Neighborhood Selection
• Workplan

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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What is a Food Assessment?
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• An approach to assessing whether community
  residents
• can obtain a safe, culturally acceptable,
  nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable
  food system that maximizes self-reliance, social
  justice and demographic decision-making (Winne,
  1997).
• Food assessments are a collaborative and
  participatory process that systematically
  examines a broad range of community food issues
  and assets, so as to inform change actions to
  make the community more food secure (Siedenberg
  and Pothukuchi, 2002).
• Six components of a neighborhood food assessment
• Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics
• Community food resources
• Household hunger/food insecurity
• Food resource accessibility
• Food availability and affordability
• Community food production resources

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Defining a Framework
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Conducting a Neighborhood Assessment
• Who is leading the study?
• Academic entity, private party, government,
  community group
• What is the methodology?
• Primary secondary data
• - What is the Scale?
• Square mile, neighborhood, district, region,
  state

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Food Assessment Case Studies
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
International District, Seattle, WA student
project that assessed the demographic and
socioeconomic characteristics of ID residents and
identified and profiled available community food
resources
Northeast Portland, OR a community driven
assessment relying on surveys and focus groups
and founded upon the goals of community
involvement and outreach in gauging local food
security issues Trenton, NJ a private company,
Isles, Inc., together with students from Rutgers
University analyzed community food system in
Trenton neighborhoods using primary and secondary
data sources and made a set of recommendations to
reduce hunger and improve nutrition for residents
Vancouver, BC a city-wide multi-stakeholder
assessment of the citys food security needs with
recommendations for further research, similar to
Sound Food Report
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Recommended Approach
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Conducting a Neighborhood Assessment
• Who is leading the study?
• Academic entity, private party, government,
  community group
• What is the methodology?
• Primary (including observational and interactive
  data) secondary data All of the Above
• - What is the Scale?
• Square mile, neighborhood, district, region,
  state

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Strengths Weaknesses
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Academic Study Strengths enthusiastic, skilled
student team committed to providing an objective
and useful analysis of Seattles food
system Weaknesses limited time and resources.
Not a community-driven process. One step removed
from entities that can effect change around these
issues Methodology Strengths using diverse data
sources, we will take both a quantitative and
qualitative approach to the neighborhood
assessment. This will largely enrich the quality
of our findings and recommendations.
Weaknesses will need to make assumptions and
generalizations for lack of available data.
Neighborhood Scope Strengths only on a small
scale is it possible to identify true access /
security issues of residents, and to analyze
these issues thoroughly Weaknesses eventually
will need assessments of all city neighborhoods
to gain accurate level of food security in
Seattle
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Methodology in Detail
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Data sources for Seattle food assessment Primary
. - Observational on-site neighborhood
visits, price comparisons, etc. - Interactive
focus groups and possibly interviews with key
stakeholders involved in neighborhood food
resource provision and distribution focus
groups and other participatory forms of data
collection are an important aspect of the
neighborhood assessments to get a more accurate
picture of local food security and access
issues. Secondary census data, other
neighborhood food assessments, literature, etc.
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Example Research Questions
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• How does food reach selected neighborhoods? P/S
• Where do families shop? P
• Do residents get the food they need and want? P
• How do people choose what to eat? P
• What is the eligibility for public assistance
  programs and what is the participation rate in
  selected neighborhoods? S
• What is the extent of hunger in selected
  neighborhoods? S
• What is the price and availability of nutritional
  food products in selected neighborhoods? P

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Scope in Detail
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Possible approaches to neighborhood selection
• Compare/Contrast two low-income neighborhoods.
• EX North Delridge and South Park
• ? knowledge generation, ground truthing,
  exploratory
• Compare/Contrast built up and spread out
  neighborhood.
• EX Capital Hill and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge
• neighborhood density, walkability, land use
• Compare/Contrast low-income and affluent
  neighborhood.
• EX Rainier Beach and Wedgwood
• ? social justice consideration?
• Select one neighborhood and study thoroughly

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Neighborhood Selection
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Your feedback will help us answer
• What is the goal in conducting a neighborhood
  food assessment?
• Is this a question of social justice, access,
  density, or something else?
• What is the desired scope of study?
• One or two neighborhoods and why?
• Is a comparison necessary?

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Work Plan
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Fall Quarter (Sep-Dec)
• Collect primary and secondary data
• Research food-based assessments
• Develop project design and methodology
• Neighborhood selection
• Winter Quarter (Jan-Mar)
• Collect primary and secondary data
• Make on-site neighborhood visits
• Design focus group study
• Implement focus groups
• Conduct interviews with key constituents and
  experts
• Spring Quarter (Apr-Jun)
• Data compilation
• Analysis of opportunities
• Write-up

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Greenhouse Gas Outline
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Seattle Food
  System
• Project Goals
• Two options for scope
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Discussion and Feedback

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Project Goals
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Goals Quantify the connection between greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions and Seattles food system,
and identify opportunities to lower GHG emissions
Methodology A Life Cycle Analysis studies
the environmental aspects and potential impacts
throughout a products life (i.e.
cradle-to-grave) from raw material acquisition,
through production, use, and disposal (ISO 1997)
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Method Life Cycle Analysis
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Why use a Life Cycle Analysis?
• Internationally standardized method
• Sustainability is a core concept
• Takes a holistic approach
• Balances trade-offs
• Combines qualitative and quantitative analysis
• Identifies the unintended impacts of decisions
• It involves a wide range of stakeholders
• Alternative Framework Food Miles
• Limited scope does not incorporate cradle to
  grave
• Limited applicability, but useful at a subsystem
  level

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Broad Scope
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Generalized accounting of the entire Seattle Food
System Define the food system by sector and
calculate emissions for each sector
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Narrow Scope
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Target a few specific items Ex Agricultural
production of one kilogram of wheat flour
Conventional Farming Methods
Organic Farming Methods
727 g CO2-eq
376 g CO2-eq
Grams of Carbon Dioxide equivalent, data from
Nielsen PH, Nielsen AM, Weidema BP, Dalgaard R
and Halberg N (2003)
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Strengths Weaknesses
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Broad Scope Overall Food System Approach
• Strengths
• Identify system-wide opportunities to lower GHG
  emissions
• Weaknesses
• Complicated, evolving system
• Wider margin of error due to generalizations
• Less data are available
• Narrow Scope Market Basket Approach
• Strengths
• Data are well defined and more accessible
• Identify specific products that reduce GHG
  emissions
• Weaknesses
• Does not address system-wide issues
• Products not always representative of the
  overall system

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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LCA Work Plan
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Define the goal of the LCA study
• - Intended audience
• - Intended applications
• - Reasons for carrying out study
• Define the scope of the study
• - Description of the system
• - Limitations
• - Requirements
• Conduct a Life Cycle Inventory
• - Data collection
• Conduct a Life Cycle Impact Assessment
• Interpretation, Evaluation, and Discussion
• Report

2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Feedback Project Goals
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Define the goal of the LCA study Quantify the
connection between greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and Seattles food system, and identify
opportunities to lower GHG emissions -
Intended audience? Consumers? Retailers?
Processors? Farmers? Policy makers? -
Intended applications? Consumer behavior? Food
related policies?
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Feedback Project Scope
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Define the scope of the study Options 1)
Broad Scope Overall Food System Approach 2)
Narrow Scope Market Basket Approach -
Description of the system Product scale? Sector
Scale? - Limitations - Requirements
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Thank You!
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Questions? Comments? Feedback? Discussion?
2006 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi