1. Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin
Local Food Action Initiative
The Local Food Action Initiative is a series of actions meant to
promote local and regional food sustainability and security. The
intent is to improve our local food system and in doing so, ad-
vance the City of Seattle’s interrelated goals of race and social
justice, environmental sustainability, economic development, and
emergency preparedness.
The initiative is detailed in Resolution 31019. The resolution was
passed by the Seattle City Council in April 2008. **
Benefits of the Initiative
• Increase support of local and regional agriculture and commu-
nity gardens and make stronger connections between our rural
and urban areas
• Improve public health by providing increased access to
healthy, culturally appropriate, and locally and regionally grown **For more information about Resolution
foods, especially for low-income households 31019:
• Reduce climate impacts of our food system http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/
• Improve the security of our local food supply in the event that
a major disaster were to occur For more information contact:
• Reduce negative environmental effects relating to the food Council President Richard Conlin at
system including minimizing energy use and reducing food waste Richard.Conlin@seattle.gov
• Create local economic opportunities related to local food pro- or
duction, processing, distribution, and waste management Phyllis Shulman at
• Support strategies to connect major institutions, such as Phyllis.Shulman@seattle.gov
schools, hospitals, and jails, to locally grown food
or by calling (206) 684-8805
• Build community through developing community gardens, pro-
moting farmers’ markets, involving immigrants, and developing
programs that contribute to sustainability
A few examples of actions include:
Develop a City of Seattle Food Policy Action Plan which would identify policies, programs and opportunities to pro-
mote local food system sustainability and security.
Strengthen local farmer’s markets and market gardens by finding them permanent locations for existing farmer’s mar-
kets.
Identify additional locations and infrastructure for community gardens that would strengthen our community garden
program and maximize accessibility to all neighborhoods and communities.
Support programs such as a Food Bank –Food Waste Recycling Project or an Urban Farmland Initiative that can as-
sist in providing fresh food for food banks and meal programs.
Form a Regional Food Policy Council that can assist the City and the County in the long run with developing policies
that contribute to our goals.

2. Local Food Action Initiative
Background
Access to food is one of the most fundamental needs for a community, yet local gov-
ernment involvement in addressing and assuring access to food is often poorly ad-
dressed. An increased number of local municipalities is beginning to realize the im-
pact that the US food system, characterized by heavy reliance on chemicals, increased
processing of foods, long transportation times and inequitable access to fresh food,
particularly for low-income people, is having on local food security, hunger, emergency
preparedness, climate protection and economic development.
The City of Seattle’s attention to our “food system” is spread across a number of departments without a
unified strategic action agenda guiding our policies and projects. An ad-hoc City of Seattle Interdepart-
mental Team is working in cooperation with a new community- based Acting Food Policy Council to ad-
dress these issues and identify opportunities to strengthen our self-reliant food system as well as to begin de-
veloping an action agenda. The Local Food Action Initiative will establish goals, create a policy frame-
work, and identify specific actions to strengthen Seattle’s food system sustainability and security.
For more information about Resolution 31019:
http://www.seattle.gov/council/conlin/
For more information contact:
Council President Richard Conlin at
Richard.Conlin@seattle.gov
or Phyllis Shulman at Phyllis.Shulman@seattle.gov
(206) 684-8805