Successful
Food Hubs in DC
Following our initial meeting with
Dan Guilbeault at the Department of the Environment, I was introduced to Laine
Cidlowski of the Department of Planning, which oversees most of the initiatives
related to the DC Sustainability Plan’s food security goals. After reviewing
project alternatives with Laine, it was agreed that the most helpful project
for the District would recommendations for the creation of successful food
hubs. Food hubs have a number of
benefits for the DC community and economy, as well as benefits for the
environment. Food hubs primarily focus on building markets for local and
regional producers in order to give them access to consumers. Also, Food Hubs create
a significant environmental benefit by reducing the number of miles food
travels from the producer to the consumer.
The project will be a comparison
between the different types of food hubs that could potentially be implemented
within the city. In order to do so, examples from other cities will be examined
based on their set up and functionality.
In other words, the main question the project will attempt to answer is:
Which elements from other cities’ food hubs could the District use as a
template for its own food hubs? As part
of our research, we plan to speak with City Kitchen here in D.C. and food hubs
within Maryland. Based on this research my partner, Blake Stok and I will complete
a paper with a set of policy recommendations on the best model. It is important
to note that my partner is taking AU’s Sustainable Purchasing class and the final
paper will also analyze the issue for this lens as well. One important point we
expect this perspective to highlight is the potential for reevaluation of
100-mile radius that D.C. has set to define local food. Our goal is to examine whether the setting of such
a localized radius has a negative impact on sustainable purchasing? The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Region
Food Hub Resource Guide” will serve as a starting point for understanding what
is required in order to build a successful food hub. It is expected that within
the next week or two this resource will reviewed completely and a face-to-face
meeting with Laine will be scheduled to discuss the project schedule for the
rest of the semester.
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