Bringing Urban and Rural Leaders Together

Nov. 3, 2008
The need to re-link California’s productive agriculture to our largest cities is a crucial piece in the goal for sustainability in one generation. For this reason, ROC has recently formed the first of six new California urban-rural roundtables. The San Francisco Roundtable includes 30 urban and rural leaders, and is charged with forming a market development and food access plan for the city and its rural neighbors and to further develop the concept of regional foodsheds.

The idea of a foodshed is based on the principle behind watersheds, which for decades have helped landowners and conservationists develop programs and plans that protect, improve and effectively manage water. A San Francisco Foodshed Assesment was recently completed in a collaboration between Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE) and the American Farmland Trust (AFT) . The study acknowledges our place among the top food-producing regions in the nation, and suggests that ― with a few system-wide changes ― the area can become a model for localizing food distribution in communities nationwide and provides an excellent introduction to, and development of, the idea of a foodshed.

The San Francisco Urban-Rural Roundtable will form workgroups around the following
objectives:
1.   Access to quality food
2.   Economic vitality for regional producers, manufacturers, distributors and purveyors
3.   Natural resources used well and fairly so that their usefulness can be maintained in perpetuity
4.   Enhancement of regional and cultural identities throughout California

ROC is committed to supporting the creation of urban-rural roundtables for at least six cities in California by 2012. Additional cities on the list for potential roundtables include San Diego, Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento. The San Francisco Roundtable will produce a set of recommendations on how to unleash a long-term project (1-5 years) for realization of an operational foodshed that maximizes local sourcing of sustainable food and improves the health and vibrancy of urban and rural communities involved.

Who is in the San Francisco Urban-Rural Roundtable?

Organizing Committee
•   Ed Thompson Jr., California Director, American Farmland Trust
•   Sibella Kraus, President, Sustainable Agriculture Education
•   Michael Dimock, President, Roots of Change
•   Paula Jones, Director of Food Systems, San Francisco Department of Public Health
•   Larry Bain, Founder & CEO, Let's be Frank; Executive Director, Food From the Parks
•   Wade Crowfoot, Director of Climate Protection Initiatives, Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom
•   Hannah Burton Laurison, Senior Associate, Planning for Healthy Places
•   Joseph McIntyre, Executive Director, Ag Innovations Network

Roundtable
•   Martha Guzman Aceves, Legislative Advocate, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
•   Paul Ash, Executive Director, San Francisco Food Bank
•   Jessica Bartholow, Director of Programs, California Association of Food Banks
•   Rajiv Bhatia, Director of Environmental Health, San Francisco Department of Public Health
•   Fred Blackwell, Director, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (invited)
•   Melanie Cheng, President, Om Direct
•   Judy Corbett, Executive Director, Local Government Commission
•   Ann Evans, Evans & Brennan LLC, Yolo County Ag Marketing Initiative; Former Mayor of Davis
•   Gina Fromer, Executive Director, Bayview Hunters Point YMCA; SF Food Security Task Force
•   Hank Giclas, Vice President, Strategic Planning, Science & Tech, Western Growers Association
•   Jeana Hultquist, Vice President, Farm Credit System, US AgBank, Sacramento
•   Ryan Jacobsen, Executive Director, Fresno County Farm Bureau
•   Michael Janis, General Manager, San Francisco Wholesale Produce Terminal
•   Edie Jessup, Director, Hunger and Nutrition Project, Fresno Metro Ministry
•   Desmond Jolly, Professor Emeritus, UC Davis
•   Jonathan Kaplan, Director, Agriculture Project, Natural Resources Defense Council
•   A.G. Kawamura, Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture
•   Holly King, Director of Agricultural Programs, Great Valley Center; Former Mayor of Modesto
•   Brian Leahy, Asst. Director, Department of Land Resource Protection, California Resources Agency
•   Blong Lee, Representative, Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission
•   Bridgett Luther, Director, California Department of Conservation
•   Kathryn Lyddan, Executive Director, Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust
•   Andrea Mackenzie, General Manager, Sonoma County Ag. Preservation and Open Space District
•   Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance
•   Mike McKeever, Executive Director, Sacramento Area Council of Governments (invited)
•   Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director, San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association
•   Miguel Monroy, Agricultural Commissioner, City and County of San Francisco
•   Paul Muller, Partner, Full Belly Farm
•   Bu Nygrens, Purchasing Manager and Co-Owner, Veritable Vegetable
•   Tim Ramirez, Manager, Land & Natural Resources Div., SF Public Utilities Commission (invited)
•   Richard Rominger, Rominger Farms; Former Deputy Secretary, USDA
•   David Runsten, Executive Director, Community Alliance with Family Farmers
•   Dan Schuman, Dir. of Operations, Project Open Hand/Tenderloin Food Purchasing Co-op
•   Diana Sokolove, Senior Environmental Planner, SF Planning Department
•   Catherine Sneed, Executive Director, The Garden Project
•   Dave Stockdale, Executive Director, Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture
•   Tom Tomich, Director, Ag. Sustainability Institute and UC Sustainable Agriculture, UC Davis
•   Paul Wenger, First Vice President, California Farm Bureau Federation
•   Kevin Westlye, Executive Director, Golden Gate Restaurant Association
•   Ed Wilkins, Director of Student Nutrition, San Francisco Unified School District
•   Bill Wilkinson, President and Owner, Greenleaf Produce
•   Helene York, Executive Director, Bon Appetit (invited)