[tcrp-news] Fwd: [BuyLocalNY] Mapping the NYC Regional Food System

Tompkins County Relocalization Project tcrp-news at lists.ibiblio.org
Thu Jan 6 10:58:51 EST 2011


Dear Friends--I thought this might of 
interest.   From the BuyLocalNY list.  Tom

>From: Goodsell <deerfarm6 at frontiernet.net>
>To: RCFP <RCFP at yahoogroups.com>, BuyLocalNY <BuyLocalNY at yahoogroups.com>,
>         "NYFoodshed at yahoogroups.com" <NYFoodshed at yahoogroups.com>,
>         "foodpolicyannounce at yahoogroups.com" 
> <foodpolicyannounce at yahoogroups.com>,
>Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2011 09:41:13 -0500
>Subject: [BuyLocalNY] Mapping the NYC Regional Food System
>
>
>The following was included in the Food Systems 
>Network NYC January newsletter. Thought some of 
>you might find it interesting.   -- Martha
>
><http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/articles/udl-nyc-foodshed-initiative>http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/articles/udl-nyc-foodshed-initiative
>
>
>
>Mapping the NYC Regional Food System
>
>
>
>by Viktoriya Syrov, Food Systems Network NYC
>January 5, 2011
>
>When Michael Conard, Assistant Director of the 
><http://www.urbandesignlab.columbia.edu/>Urban 
>Design Lab at Columbia University’s Earth 
>Institute, was first asked to consider the 
>rising problem of childhood obesity in 2007, his 
>team of urban designers and architects realized 
>that what was being called for was a wholly new 
>approach. Working with the 
><http://collaborativeinitiatives.org/>MIT 
>Collaborative Initiatives, the team embarked on 
>a journey across the United States, funded by a 
>grant from the United Health Foundation, to 
>learn more about the disease and find a viable new solution.
>
>What they came up with would not surprise many 
>of us; the problem lay on the intake side of the 
>energy equation, and much of it had to do with 
>lack of access to healthy food. Through 
>examinations of rural food deserts around the 
>country, it was determined that in order to 
>address the issue of access it would be 
>necessary to develop an integrated regional food 
>system. The second phase of the project “refined 
>the concept of a comprehensive food system” and 
>encouraged collaboration between industry 
>leaders to come up with models for a new national food infrastructure.
>
>“A more resilient, a more sustainable, and 
>healthy system is an integrated regional 
>system,” said Conard. “By building on the good 
>efforts happening locally and regionally and 
>further giving infrastructure to support them, 
>by giving data and supporting funding, we can 
>create a network of regional systems which will 
>provide outcomes and further economic development.”
>
>To start, Conard and his team began by taking 
>the model for an integrated food system and 
>applying it locally. 
><http://www.urbandesignlab.columbia.edu/?pid=nyc_foodshed>The 
>New York City Regional Foodshed Initiative was 
>announced in 2010, and is comprised of a 
>two-year study that will evaluate the “potential 
>capacity of agricultural production and 
>distribution infrastructure in the New York City 
>region.” Working in partnership with the 
><http://www.stonebarnscenter.org/>Stone Barns 
>Center for Food and Agriculture, Conard and 
>Project Manager Kubi Ackerman will utilize 
>consumption data from sources such as the USDA 
>and Department of Transportation, along with 
>GIS, to analyze and quantify the existing food 
>production in the 200-mile radius of the New 
>York Metro Region, and measure the potential 
>production capacity of the region.
>
><http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/files/map_nyc_foodshed_tabloid.jpg>
>[]
>
>The goal is to “conduct an in-depth examination 
>of the food production and distribution capacity 
>of the New York City Metropolitan Region and to 
>develop specific policy recommendations for 
>enhancing the ability of the City to supply more 
>food from regional sources. The study will 
>incorporate localized land use, soil type, 
>transportation infrastructure, and climatic 
>conditions to assess regional production 
>capacity, and will incorporate actual 
>consumption data for New York City. 
>Additionally, the study will allow for 
>comparison of existing regional production and 
>distribution with potential regional production 
>and distribution to identify concrete 
>possibilities for enhancing regional capacity,” said Ackerman in an e-mail.
>
>Conard, who sees the model to be potentially 
>applicable worldwide said, “The goal is to 
>understand what each region is and what the 
>opportunities are 
 and on a national level how 
>to support those differences and those similarities.”
>
>Thus far the Urban Design Lab team has advised 
>two major city policy reports using their 
>findings: The 2009 Manhattan Borough President 
>Scott M. Stringer’s “Food in the Public 
>Interest” report and the 2010 
>“<http://www.foodsystemsnyc.org/announcements/foodworks-report>FoodWorks: 
>A Vision to Improve NYC’s Food System,” prepared 
>by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.  UDL 
>recently presented a report on the NYC Foodshed 
>Initiative at the Northeast Sustainable 
>Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG) Conference, 
>and you can 
><http://www.urbandesignlab.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/pres_NESAWG_text_122210.pdf>view 
>their presentation 
><http://www.urbandesignlab.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/pres_NESAWG_text_122210.pdf>here.
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