Multnomah Food Summit

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Multnomah Food Summit on Friday as part of my internship with Adelante Mujeres. This is the third year that the MFS has take place, organized by the Multnomah County's Food Initiative, and this year’s theme was one that I am very passionate about: food justice. I was interested in seeing how the food justice movement was similar to (and different than) what I know about the various agriculture/food movements out in Ohio.

I attended 3 work sessions:

1. The Next Generation of Oregon Farmers: It was nice to hear that many resources are popping up for young aspiring farmers in Oregon, including urban agriculture training programs, incubator sites, and access to non-traditional land leases and loans. Presenters, including representatives from Friends of Family Farmers and Zenger Farm emphasized how important it is for new farmers to have social support networks as they begin the difficult task of starting their own farm.

2. Native American Food Hub: Members of the native community, led by 1000 Nations Executive Director Sean Cruz, discussed hopes and challenges of starting a food co-operative in Portland that would support native-produced foods and connect with the larger community. They emphasized their frustrations of being so often forgotten in issues such as food justice. Creating a Native American food hub in Portland is an important part of the healing process for natives who have excellent knowledge of Pacific Northwest foods but who have been ignored and mistreated ever since their land was stolen from them by white people.
   
   
3. Connecting Affordable Housing Residents and Farmers Markets: A study by local organizations found that affordable housing residents value high quality produce, but they cannot get it because the locations that sell produce near affordable housing are not affordable. The study also found that SNAP (food stamps) incentive programs at farmers markets can significantly help make outlets more affordable for SNAP recipients. The next step is to ensure that these farmers markets are close enough to affordable housing for those who live there to attend.

Produce grown by N & N Amaro, started by by graduates of
Adelante Agricultura's sustainable agriculture course.

Adelante Mujeres hosted a session describing their various programs that are working to create just, local food system. You may have read about some of them in my earlier posts:

• Adelante Agricultura's 12 week sustainable agriculture training program for new Latino farmers
• Access to ¼ acre on La Esperanza Farm for course graduates
• Assistance with finding outlets to sell produce (including the Forest Grove Farmers Market and the new La Esperanza Distributor)
• Space for new Latino entrepreneurs to create value-added food products in the Sabor Color Commercial Kitchen
• Encouraging low-income participants in Adelante's other programs to use their Adelante Incentive Vouchers, SNAP, or WIC at the Forest Grove Farmers Market
• Adelante Mujeres's new Nourishing the Community Initiative, which works to promote healthy lifestyles including supporting healthy and local foods

It was nice to see a large group of people who were all passionate about a just and sustainable local food system all in one place. The conference had over 300 attendees. However, there are still many challenges in Portland’s food justice movement. The original conference schedule, which was meant to be inclusive, did not include any representatives from the native population, sparking outcry from Native American individuals and organizations. Also, the conference attendees were predominantly 30-something white females. To ensure a food justice movement that is truly inclusive, there needs to be a more diverse population- I know Portland has more than young white females. Lastly, there seems to be divisions between what is the best strategy from making Portland’s food system more just- some seemed to disapprove of welfare programs while others wanted to increase welfare benefits. It will be interesting to see how these conversations of food justice move forward in the coming years.