Obama Foodorama reported today on Chicago mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel's food policy agenda for the city. Into an urban center already working at improving access to healthy food, he brings added emphasis to Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" agenda for improving public health through better nutrition and increased physical activity. His program lays out a 360-degree view of the problems and solutions for an urban food system.
"To improve food access & affordability, the Mayor-Elect pledges 'a renaissance in local food production & distribution' with new policies and incentives for urban agriculture, grocery markets, food trucks..." Read the whole ObFo post. It brings up a variety of approaches to address food deserts, economic development, health, and community building.
As I reported a few weeks ago, Chicago has had (a) groundbreaking (so to speak) urban agriculture programs (including a branch of Growing Power headed by Erika Allen, daughter of Will), and (b) City proposals that didn't seem to appreciate the assets they were about to squelch. It will be exciting to see the energy that Emanuel can bring, with the broad understanding he seems to have for improving the food system.
Meanwhile, San Antonio also is a partner in "Let's Move!" through the Mayor's Fitness Council and other initiatives. Many of Emanuel's proposals, like making Chicago bike friendly, echo current programs of Mayor Julian Castro. It would be doubly exciting if we could partner with Chicago, leverage the food-system initiatives in our own ways, and move ahead even faster.
One of the best things about the food policy movement is being able to connect with other communities, so that the wheel is not reinvented everywhere. We can adopt and adapt, because while every place is unique, we all face similar challenges in reclaiming our food systems.
