Salem Food Policy Council

Food Policy Council of Salem, MA September 5, 2023, 6:00 pm Hybrid Participation Present: Joel Simonson, Robyn Burns, Sara Moore, Michaela Short, Allison Caffrey, Kerry Murphy, Councillor Andy Varela Absent: Irv Perrin, Flora Cordealoni, Johan Arango-Quiroga, Claudia Paraschiv, Julie Pottier- Brown Approval of July minutes Sara motions to approve; Robyn seconds. All in favor, none opposed. Public Comment No public comments. City of Salem update, Kerry Murphy Bonita Oehlke from MDAR reached out about all of the food policy councils who received the MDAR grant to present a brief summary at the next MA Food Policy Council meeting on how we used the grant funding. Kerry will give a short presentation. Also, the MA budget includes another $250,000 for food policy councils so we should start thinking about how we could use additional funding and apply for the next round. Robyn suggested we could bring back consultants to guide the next phase of the process as the subcommittees are starting to form. Alphonse Wright will be appointed to Salem Food for All this month and should be confirmed for the October meeting. City Council liaison update, Councillor Varela Polystyrene ordinance went into effect September 1st. Business owners seem to have a good grasp of the ordinance. Wants to discuss the new ordinance promoting the economic development of temporary food vendors in Salem. It is meant to allow food trucks/carts on city streets and in parks in a way that wouldn’t conflict with existing restaurants. He wants to give local restaurants and Salem residents the right of first-refusal for these opportunities. Councillor Varela feels that we have a big void to fill in October during Haunted Happenings for fast, inexpensive food. 98 WASHINGTON STREET, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 01970 ♦ TEL: 978.745.9595 FAX: 978.740.0404 ♦ WWW.SALEM.COM Kerry asked if the City is allowed to give priority to local business and residents. Councillor Varela said there would be certain criteria the applicant would have to meet, such as proximity, whether or not the organization donate to food assistance or other programs. There would be a review process for every applicant to make sure we’re doing what’s best for Salem. Joel asked where the ordinance is in process and what is the hoped for timeline? The goal is to finalize this by next summer. We have the contract with Fiesta Shows which still has a year left which is exclusive for October. He’s working with the Mayor, City Solicitor and DEI Director, and will have conversations with Creative Collective, Salem Main Streets and additional talks with the Chamber of Commerce throughout fall/winter and spring. The goal of the exclusive contract with Fiesta was to “optimize and streamline” vendors coming to Salem. The result is carnival food that is not healthy or representative of our diverse community. There was also a history of “bad actors” that operated food carts and violated health code. Councillor Varela asked if we had any clarification on the food policy council’s role in supporting ordinances. Kerry said that she and Joel are meeting with Mayor Pangallo the following morning to discuss this. Andy: Good point, we don’t have a list of suppliers, but the polystyrene ordinance has started more of a dialogue with restaurants that will lead to better communication Claudia: Black Earth has a list of approved compostables Andy: Would also be very challenging for Black Earth to remove these items from their pickups Robyn: Should we write a letter of support? Andy: A letter will definitely be helpful when the time comes. Robyn: Should food rescue be part of the composting ordinance? Andy: Probably not, but there have been conversations about food rescue, but there will need to be at least two city staff people to facilitate this. There is a paid position in Boston just to coordinate food rescue from restaurants. Kerry: Not sure the city would have the capacity to staff a food rescue dept, might be more appropriate for a nonprofit; this could be a working group conversation for the food access subcommittee Robyn: Has thoughts on how food rescue could work, possibly incentivizing organizations to take this on. Andy: We should have more conversations on these topics with other city depts like with Planning; he can put in an order to get discussion happening; planning dept should be applying for grants to address food security. New Business Mission Statement The council members adopted the following mission statement: Salem Food for All assesses the city’s food landscape, engages the Salem community to identify how and where community members are able to access nutritious and affordable food, and makes evidence-based recommendations to community and municipal leaders to promote food justice and health equity in Salem. Motion to approve: Sara, Second: Robyn Operations Manual There were several edits made, but voting will be held until next month due to the pending meeting with Mayor Pangallo which might necessitate further edits. Subcommittee selection discussion Organization/Advocacy Sara Joel Kerry - will take lead on setting up first meeting Food Access Robyn – will take lead on setting up first meeting Michaela Allison Community & Urban Agriculture Flora Kerry - will take lead on setting up first meeting Julie Irv Assessment & Engagement Sara - will take lead on setting up first meeting Johan Claudia Once subcommittees are active, our full council meetings will happen every month and subcommittee meetings will be on the alternate meetings. Kerry added that she got some clarification from Beth Rennard that as long as we don’t have a quorum, subcommittee meetings don’t have to be posted. Joel said that co-chairs for subcommittees should be considered. Job description drafts should be looked at and tailored to each subcommittee by the next meeting. Council members should meet before the next meeting and finalize these and talk about recruitment strategies. Robyn asked if we could create a template with headings that all subcommittees can use. Kerry will work on this. Member Updates Joel, Project Bread – focused on implementation of Universal School Meals; many schools will need a lot of support and resources; Child Nutrition team is doing a lot of outreach Irv, SPS – Had a successful Summer Eats program, Michaela had activities at Mary Jane Lee park. SPS received the Food Security Infrastructure Grant, almost $500k, that will be used towards equipment to help with scratch cooking. Supply chain problems have improved. Michaela, SPS – SPS is also beginning a pilot composting program in the kitchen at Carlton. Black Earth will be doing pickups. Allison, Root – Root is about to start a strategic planning process so some members might be asked to do stakeholder interviews; Root is planning to purchase another van with their FSIG grant money Councillor Varela – asked Irv & Michaela about their Styrofoam trays and what they transitioned to. Irv said they haven’t used Styrofoam in 2 years, but is now looking to get rid of plastic completely Robyn, The Salem Pantry – they’re giving out Root meals to supplement groceries; looking forward to Daily Table opening; TSP will be registering people for SNAP – likely starting in the fall once everyone is trained. They’ll be doing separate “office hours” for SNAP registration. The Pantry slowed down a little in July, but August spiked – the last 2 Tuesdays were two of the busiest all year. Kerry, Mack Park Farm: Slow start to the season but things have really picked up. The attendance at the markets has been almost double last year. Matt & Pat also built 10 raised beds along the fence line which are accessible height for wheelchairs. Joel: Daily Table is having their soft opening this Fri and ribbon cutting is on Saturday. Future Agenda Items • Vote on Operations Manual • Report on subcommittee discussions • Continued discussion of MDAR grant • Ask Celia Grant from Daily Table to give an update Meeting Adjourned Motion to Adjourn: Robyn; seconded: Sara Next Meeting Date: October 2, 2023 @ 6pm