10 Jul Bringing Farmers to the Fields: The Farmland Access Subcommittee

On July 2^nd the Farmland Access Subcommittee had its inaugural meeting, beginning the process of creating a list of recommendations for the Sustainable Food Board to take to the new City Council members in January.  The subcommittee aims to help potential farmers with limited resources, especially from diverse communities, gain access to existing urban and rural farmland.  This subcommittee is part of the larger Farmland Preservation Working Group, which aims to increase farmland availability and preservation and emphasizes sustainable food production.

Austin is currently facing high growth rates and subsequent increases in development of its public and private lands, especially in the eastern area of the city, where much of the soils are well suited for agriculture.  Austin’s food sector plays a huge part in the city’s economy, to the point that it is comparable to many other important sectors.  Not only does the preservation of Austin’s agricultural lands hold a huge value for our economy, but it also has a huge value to the identity and quality of life in Austin, which attracts and keeps people in our great city. Despite the importance of Austin agriculture, in Code NEXT, Austin’s land development code revision initiative, food was only mentioned in 0.06% of the document’s pages.  There is clearly some work to be done on this important issue and the Farmland Access committee is doing it.

This session of the Access Subcommittee mainly consisted of brainstorming policy objectives that help farmers gain access to farmland.  The subcommittee was made up of a diverse group, including Brandon Reed of the Sustainable Food Policy Board, Edwin Marty, the Food Policy Manager of the City of Austin, members of local non-profits and farms, and other interested citizens.  Some of the ideas that were brought up were:

·       Identifying ways to engage both diverse communities and potential partners in providing farmland access

·       Finding ways to compare the relative value of agriculture to transportation, affordable housing, and recreation in different neighborhoods

·       Growing the urban farming movement

·       Creating a transparent process to identify available land

·       Distinguishing policies in urban vs. rural and public vs. private land

The next Farmland Access Subcommittee meeting will be July 23^rd from 6:00 – 8:00pm, Room 200A in the Office of Sustainability.  If you would like to attend, please email Edwin Marty (Edwin.marty@austintexas.gov) to RSVP. The subcommittee is also looking for potential partners to help provide more expertise, in order to provide even stronger final recommendations to City Council.  Attending the Subcommittee is a great way to influence and direct the future of Austin’s local food economy and urban farming.