E.A.T. Local

Everyone at the Table

Purpose and Goals

E.A.T. Local is a community-based forum for all people interested in enhancing the sustainability of the larger Charlottesville regional foodshed.

• a forum for specific on-the-ground activities to be conceived and carried out. Specific projects requiring more organization, project funding, grants, etc., may spin-off separate entities with separate organization and leadership, as needed, or may be assumed by an already existing organization.
• an information-sharing forum for all aspects of the foodshed community food system – farmers-producers, distributors, farm suppliers, schools, public health and nutrition, poverty advocates and support systems, consumers, and any others interested or contributing to the food system.
• a forum where all views and perspectives are welcomed and respected.
• a forum with open membership and rotating leadership, to reflect the multiple interests contributing to the community food system.
• a forum with organizational flexibility and adaptability, to ensure that it will meet the immediate and evolving needs of the region’s community food system.

A listserv has been established for those interested in being a part of the community effort to develop a sustainable community food system. If you wish to join the listserv, you may do so at this website:
https://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/listinfo/sustcomfood

First Virginia Food Security Summit held in Charlottesville
The first Virginia Food Security Summit was held on Friday, May 11 at UVA's Alumni Hall. The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech joined forces to host this exciting event, under the coordination of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation.

The Summit had three principal goals: to raise awareness and understanding in the Commonwealth of the need to improve Virginia's food security; to help people in different professions to make connections and discuss possibilities for new policies, research, pilot projects, or other actions to improve Virginia's food security and food-related economic development; and to explore the need for a stakeholder "round table" or state-level Food Policy Council to develop an integrated food security strategy for Virginia.

Presentations from the summit can be found at http://www.virginia.edu/ien/foodsummit/index.html.

May 2007 Local Food Events in Charlottesville

Participants:

E.A.T. Local has been meeting since June 2006. The roster, as of October 2006, includes people who have attended one or more of the first four E.A.T. Local meetings. The list also indicates those who signed up for the work groups created at the June meeting:

1) Farm-to-School;
2) Food Center;
3) Compost
4) Urban CSA
5) Bio Remediation
6) Food Directory
Roster as of October 2006

Background

Tanya Denckla Cobb (Senior Associate, Institute for Environmental Negotiation) and Tim Beatley (Teresa Heinz Professor for Sustainable Communities) taught a UVA class in Spring 2006, “Planning for a Sustainable and Secure Community Food System.” Their class presented its findings on May 8 in an open community meeting, and this presentation ended with a request by community members that a follow-up meeting be scheduled to discuss possible “next steps” by the community. The E.A.T. Local Group began meeting as a result of that request.

Food System Assessment

The Spring 2006 UVA Class “Planning for a Sustainable and Secure Community Food System.” developed a preliminary assessment of the region’s food system. The student report “The Charlottesville Region Food System: A Preliminary Assessment” focuses on food security, defined as a condition in which all community residents are able to obtain a safe, equally accessible, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximized community self-reliance and social justice ((K. Pothukuchi, What’s Cooking in Your Food System: A Guide to Community Assessments, Community Food Security Coalition). The report examines the geography of the foodshed, food production, distribution and waste, and barriers and opportunities of the Charlottesville Region. To view the report please click here.

Sustainability Accords

The Sustainability Accords were developed over a three-year period in the mid-1990s using a facilitated public forum format involving over 600 people. The Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council was a 34-member council created by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission with representatives from the six member localities Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson Counties and the City of Charlottesville. The Accords contain the principles, goals and visions for the region and serve as a baseline or touchstone for regional planning efforts across all the PDC programs and planning efforts. To view the final report please click here.

• Retain the natural habitat
• Ensure water quality and quantity are sufficient to support people and ecosystems
• Optimize the use and re-use of developed land and promote clustering
• Promote appropriate scale for land uses
• Retain farm and forest land
• Develop attractive and economical transportation alternatives
• Conserve energy
• Provide educational and employment opportunities
• Increase individual participation in neighborhoods and communities
• Strive for a size and distribute the human population in ways that preserve vital resources

Articles of interest:

Inside UVA Online, June 30, 2006 “The Power of Food: Food-focused planning builds links between students, faculty and community” http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/food_power.html

Gourmet magazine, June 2006, "Mission: Possible: we pay homage to seven community projects based on the principle that a homeless kid can grow up to become a chef and that good food is everyone's right." Click here for a pdf file of the article.