Bottom Line Blog Office of Economic Development

Bottom Line

News from Seattle's Office of Economic Development

Our City, Our Food, Our Future: Listening sessions on food in our community

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(From Mayor Mike McGinn’s blog)

Access to healthy, affordable food is vital to our community. We’re working to increase access to healthy food for everyone in Seattle, not just those who can afford it. It’s one of the most important things we can do as a community to live longer, lead healthier lives, promote equity, and help our environment.

The City recently hired a new Food Policy Advisor, who is working in our Office of Sustainability and Environment to create an action agenda that further improves people’s ability to grow, eat, and sell local and healthy food in Seattle.

In order to create that agenda, I, together with City Councilmember Richard Conlin and the other members of our City Council, am bringing together stakeholders in the food community for a series of Our City, Our Food, Our Future listening sessions.  The priorities and opportunities that we hear about in these sessions will inform the City’s next steps for these issues.

Almost every department at the City has been engaged and working together to create a city where all Seattleites have enough to eat and have access to affordable, local, healthy, culturally appropriate food. We’re working to make sure it’s easy to grow food in our city, whether for personal use or for business purposes, and easy to sell local and healthy food in our neighborhoods. We’re also educating people about the benefits of eating local and healthy food, and working to provide sustainable ways to deal with food waste.

Some of these programs are long-standing, such as the P-Patch program, senior meals, and food waste recycling.  More recently, we’ve taken other steps aimed at increasing shared prosperity, health, and environmental sustainability. For example, our Office of Economic Development has helped over 50 small business owners sell more healthy food in their stores, which helps support their businesses while at the same time increasing access to healthy food in areas of our city where it is hard to find.

Our Human Services Department’s Farm to Table program has been helping childcare centers and senior meal facilities get more fresh, healthy food from local farmers onto kids’ and seniors’ plates.  Our Parks Community Centers host a teen top chef program, engaging teens in cooking and eating healthy meals, and providing them with leadership opportunities in the process.  Our Department of Planning and Development changed the zoning code to expand opportunities for Seattleites to grow food in the City. And Seattle Public Utilities has helped food banks catch good food before it hits the waste stream and get it onto people’s plates.

If you’re interested in being part of our effort to increase access to local, healthy, food in our community, contact sharon.lerman@seattle.gov. We’ll share what we learn during the Our City, Our Food, Our Future listening sessions right here on our blog.

West Seattle Businesses and Organizations Host

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Healthy Foods Here, is hosting a Healthy Foods Here Walk on Friday, June 22nd from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The walk will span four blocks with five checkpoints within the High Point neighborhood. At each checkpoint there will be educational activities, free food, and prizes assuring a fun event for all ages.   

Participating businesses and organizations include: Neighborhood House High Point Center, West Seattle Food Bank, Walgreens, High Point Mini Market and the High Point Market Garden.  Residents from all over King county are welcome to attend the event and witness some of the changes happening, even if they don’t live in the High Point neighborhood.

“We’re providing better access to healthy foods,” said Healthy Foods Here Technical Assistance Provider Kara Martin. “Eating right isn’t just an issue confined to this area, it affects everyone. We invite families to come out to learn about healthy options in a safe and fun environment.”

For more information about Healthy foods Here project, please visit the official website at www.healthyfoodshere.com.

About Healthy Foods Here

Healthy Foods Here is a partnership between King County Public Health – Seattle and the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. This pioneering county-wide program is a new model of integrating economic development and public health to bring healthier food options to neighborhoods without access to many healthy foods. Healthy Foods Here helps businesses located in priority regions attract new customers, increase sales and profitability, and add nutritious products lines. Businesses may also receive assistance with merchandising, inventory management, store layout and design, communication with suppliers, seed capital and marketing.

Seattle – cultural capital of the Pacific Northwest

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Seattle – cultural capital of the Pacific Northwest   
Wall Street Journal
Seattle’s culture is vibrant and diverse. Most of what’s going on here is about the present-the brick warehouses, dive bars and century-old storefronts that have been repurposed to suit a Seattle of bold chef-owned restaurants, handcrafted-cocktail bars, art galleries, rock venues and coffee shops where you can easily lose an afternoon.
City Council Committee green-lights food-truck plan   
Seattle Weekly
City Council’s Committee approved new rules for food vendors, capping a years-long conversation about ways in which Seattle could stimulate its street-food scene. Under new regulations, food-cart vendors and trucks will be able to sell an expanded selection of food in a variety of new locations. Truck spots will be distributed by lottery, despite opposition from a few restaurant owners.
A shortage of healthy food is not the only problem   
Economist
The US Department of Agriculture reports that 10 percent of the country is now a “food desert” – where low-income families have little or no access to healthy fresh food. One area in Renton is cited as an example of a food desert that is home to a roadside stand serving fresh fruits and vegetables and a health-food shop. However, the causal link between food deserts and dietary health has yet to be explained.

Healthy food coordinator job applications due June 15th

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Seattle’s Office of Economic Development (OED) is now seeking applicants for a full-time, two-year grant funded position to coordinate a pilot project with corner stores in Seattle and South King County.

The person selected will implement a pilot business incentive program to encourage food businesses, in particular grocery stores in low income areas, to improve access to healthy food and beverages. This program is part of the Seattle-King County Public Health Department’s “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” (CPPW) grant, a two-year, $26 million project funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Using best practices of national models, building on the success of local initiatives and engaging community partnerships, OED is creating a pilot project to engage corner stores in the Southeast Seattle, Seattle Central District, Southwest Seattle and South King County to increase the amount of healthy food available through retail outlets in these under-served communities.

The Healthy Food Business Coordinator position is based in OED and is a part of OED’s Business Services Team. 

Click here to download the full job description, which also includes information on how to apply. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, June 15th.