Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

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Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Problem Statement
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Seattles food system functions but has several
points of weakness it has many negative
environmental impacts its costs and benefits are
not equally carried by groups in society its
not economically efficient and there are ongoing
concerns about food security.
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Mission Statement
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
To identify enhancement opportunities in
Seattles food system that ? Reduce ecological
impacts and system vulnerabilities ? Improve
equity, system resilience, and food security
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Objectives
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Initiate a neighborhood food assessment of two
  low-income, high poverty neighborhoods in Seattle
  to identify true access issues for residents.
• Conduct a life-cycle assessment of 3-4 food items
  represented on a typical NW dinner plate and
  quantify related carbon emissions of each food
  item related to manufacturing, production,
  transportation, consumption, and disposal.

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Project Timelines
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Food Assessment Determine neighborhoods where we
have most support for focus groups -
Feb Determine neighborhood boundaries -
Feb Schedule 2-3 focus groups in each
neighborhood - Feb/Mar/Apr Transcribe focus
group interviews - Mar/Apr Gather quantitative
data for neighborhoods - Feb/Mar/Apr Deliver
Progress Reports to City IDT Ongoing Project
write-up May Carbon Footprint Food items
selection Feb Compile life-cycle data for food
items Feb/Mar Quantify related carbon
emissions Mar Develop relationship btwn GHG
emissions and food system - Apr Project Write-up
May
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Expected Outcomes
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
1. Food Assessment Increased awareness about the
Seattle food system and opportunities to enhance
the system by improving access to affordable,
nutritious, high quality food. To provide the
City with policy recommendations to increase the
functionality of the Seattle food
system. 2. Carbon Footprint Increased awareness
about the relationship between the production,
manufacturing, and transportation of food and
related greenhouse gas emissions. To provide a
framework through which to think about sourcing
Seattles food needs with minimal negative
environmental impact.
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Food Assessment Components
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• What is a Neighborhood Food Assessment?
• 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).
• Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics
• Community food resources
• Household hunger/food insecurity
• Food resource accessibility
• Food availability and affordability
• Community food production resources

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Neighborhood Resident Assessment of Food Access
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Seattle Neighborhood Decision
• Presented criteria to IDT
• Scoped potential neighborhoods
• Contacted neighborhood groups about organizing
  focus groups
• Collecting data
• Central / First Hill
• South Beacon

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Neighborhood Indicators Data Sources
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
1. Socioeconomic and demographic
characteristics 2. Community food resources
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Neighborhood Resident Assessment of Food Access
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Neighborhood Food Assessment Components 3.
Household hunger/food insecurity 4. Food resource
accessibility 5. Food availability and
affordability 6. Community food production
resources

• build support for focus groups in communities
  and schedule dates
• run beta FG and assess
• network w/ other food policy resources in
  Seattle
• think about additional targeted ways to gain
  more primary data

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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End Result Policy Recommendations to City
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
Focus group results
Qualitative data
ANALYSIS
Results and recommendations to city

• Challenges other thoughts
• Other forms of primary dada
• What can the city do? Relevant policy
  recommendations

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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• Goal Compare the greenhouse gas emissions of two
  plates that will have the same items of food on
  each, but the items will be produced and sourced
  differently
• Dinner menu
• Salmon
• Apple
• Potato
• Asparagus
• Milk? Lettuce? Beer? Wine?

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• What were covering raw materials through
  point-of-sale for each item
• Production from raw materials
• Processing
• Distribution
• Retail
• (Transportation is included in each process)
• What were not covering making buildings and
  vehicles

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Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Lessons Learned (so far)
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Data Quality Control
• Neighborhood Assessment
• random vs. non-random samples (i.e.,
  participants in neighborhoods)
• making generalizations (i.e., small
  representation of neighborhood)
• asking the right questions (i.e., at focus
  groups)
• GHG Study
• wild goose chase (i.e., tracking down useful
  data)
• variation in quality (i.e., credibility of
  previous work)
• applicability (i.e., regional variation in farm
  practices)
• practical constraints on how far we can follow
  the path of each food item (i.e., raw material to
  point of purchase vs. raw material to point of
  consumption)
• SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Planning Ahead
Seattle Food System Enhancement Project

• Project Impact Possible Scenarios
• SCENARIO 1 UNDESIREABLE
• existing energy dissipates ? final report filed
  away ?recommendations ignored
• SCENARIO 2 DESIREABLE
• existing energy builds ? final report circulated
  ? generates further research
• Ways to promote Scenario 2
• foster strong relationship with community
  partners (i.e., consistent and friendly contact)
• make realistic recommendations (i.e., financial
  considerations)
• circulate findings in accessible manner (i.e.,
  executive summary)
• build incentives for city to remain interested
  (i.e., continue POE-IDT partnership)

06-07 Project Team Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi
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Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
THANK YOU! Dan Morgan, Rich Cook, Heidi
Radenovic, Stephanie Renzi