Food Policy in the Austin Community

Sarge Audisho

HPA 430

Policy Action Plan

Food Policy

• Area of public policy concerning the production and distribution of food

• Consists of setting of goals for food production, processing, marketing, availability, access, utilization and consumption, as well as the processes for achieving these goals

• Comprises the mechanisms by which food-related matters are addressed or administered by governments or any public institution or private organization

• As a subfield of public policy, it covers the entire food chain (farm to fork), from natural resources to production, processing, marketing and retailing, as well as food hygiene, consumption and nutrition.

Examples of Food Policy

• A decision by school officials whether to purchase foods raised by local farmers

• Regulations for selling raw milk to consumers

• The eligibility standards that allow low-income residents to participate in food assistance programs

• The regulatory health and safety requirements for food based business

• Food ingredient labeling

• Laws regulating the use of production contracts by corporate meat and poultry operations

• The percentage of a food ingredient which qualifies a food product as being "organic"

Austin Data

Austin DataArea: 18.54 km² (7.16 mi²)Population: 117,527

– Largest community in Chicago

Demographics:– African American: 89.7%– White: 4.82% – Hispanic: 4.12% – Asian: 0.55% – Other: 0.86%

Age31 % Children (under 18) 51% Adults (18-54) 18% Senior (55+)

Austin Data

Education 31% Less than high school 29% High school 26% Some college 6% Associate degree 7% College degree 3% Graduate degree

Household income 43% Low-income (under $35,000) 44% Middle-income ($35,000-$99,999) 14% High-income ($100,000+)

Median income: $33,663

Austin Data

• Causes of Hospitalization (2001)-Heart disease: 1,950-Diabetes: 475-Stroke: 409

• Causes of Death (2001):-Heart disease: 250 -Diabetes: 57-Stroke: 37

 

Austin Data

Estimated Community Risk for Selected BRFSS Indicators

• Not Having a Health Plan: High• Never Had a Clinical Breast Exam: Average• Never Had Cholesterol Checked: High• No Exercise in Past Month: High• Current Smoking: High• Told Blood Pressure High More Than Once: Average• Obesity: High• Binge Drinking: Average• Non-Daily Fruit Consumption: High

Issue

• Significant shortage of grocery stores, farmer’s markets and farmland in the Austin neighborhood

• Poor food quality in the community’s schools• Oversaturation of fast food chains, convenience

stores, and liquor stores offering poor quality food

• Leading to increasing amounts of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, and related conditions

Study

• Medill News Service investigation conducted in Austin and Lakeview revealed stark differences in food choices available to residents.

• Austin, has just one large grocery store and three smaller ones. Lakeview, has six stores that add up to roughly double the square footage when compared to those in Austin

• Fast food joints, liquor stores and mini-marts crowd the street corners in Austin, offering a quicker and easier fix than a long trip to

the grocery store.

Study

• “All of the stores are far away," said Austin resident Adell Young, 63, who lives four blocks and two bus rides away from the nearest supermarket.

• Young said the struggle of having to travel far to grocery stores discourages many Austin residents from going. Instead, they go next door to eat a hot dog or cheese fries, and it isn't fair.

• "We spend a lot of money, you know," Young said of people living in Austin. "It's either people like me spending money in the grocery store, or they're spending a lot of money in the fast food places."

Study

• Austin stores:– Food-for-less

– Leamington

– Aldi

– Save-a-lot

• Lakeview– 3 Jewels

– 2 Whole Foods

– Treasure Island

Study

• In Austin, where grocery stores go missing, fast food restaurants, mini-marts and liquor stores fill in the gaps.

• Austin has nearly double the number of mini-marts and fast food joints, and more than double the number of liquor stores in Lakeview.

Study-Epidemiology• Food availability in lower income neighborhoods puts residents at higher

risk for obesity, diabetes and heart disease

• African American and Hispanic children and teens nationwide are particularly at risk

• Obesity rates show that 14 percent of white teens are overweight, as compared with 21 percent of African American and 22 percent of Hispanics

• African Americans are 1.8 times as likely as whites to develop Type 2 diabetes

• For each additional supermarket that opens in the local community, black residents' daily consumption of fruits and vegetables jumps up 32 percent

Study

• "You see a disproportionate number of healthy foods in the area where people are already the healthiest, and you see a disproportionately smaller number of fruit-and-vegetable stands and supermarkets in areas where people have the most obesity and are the most overweight.”

– Dr. Paul Crawford (former president of the American Heart Association of Metropolitan Chicago)

Potential

• Business experts agree that supermarkets could be making a big mistake by not opening stores in lower income neighborhoods, where there is virtually no competition and where residents could be clamoring to buy fresh produce.

• "If you multiply low income by high density, you tend to get really great amounts of spending potential that . . . makes for highly profitable stores."

– Mary Ludgin, co-chair of the Urban Development Committee for Metropolitan Planning Council 

A Farm Grows in Brooklyn

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/watch2.html

Action Plan

• Vision:A healthy, self-sustainable Austin neighborhood with sufficient, affordable and convenient access to nutritious food.

Action Plan

Goals:• Create an Austin Food Policy Council to work with the City of

Chicago and State of Illinois• Create incentives for potential grocery store, farmer’s market, and

farmland ownership in Austin • Require that a certain percentage of school lunch fund be spent

within a certain miles radius to purchase nutritious food for children’s meals

• Advocate for policy on food stamp and food voucher distribution to low income residents to use for nutritious food

• Advocate for protecting land and empty lots in rural and urban areas from development and promoting creation of farmland

Action Plan

• Results:

• Opening several grocery stores and farmer’s markets, and creating several lots of farmland throughout Austin

• Shutting down most of the fast food shops, convenience stores,and liquor stores

• Local schools making healthy nutritious food for the children

• Steady decrease in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke in Austin

Slogan

“Planting a seed of hope for a healthy community”

Stakeholders

• Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council

• Greater Chicago Housing and Community Development Website 

• Community Food Security Coalition

• Austin Chamber of Commerce

• Illinois Sustainable Food Policy Council

• Westside Health Authority

• Chicago Department of Public Health

• Illinois Department of Agriculture

• Austin Cook County Health Center

• Austin People's Action Center

• Growing Power Illinois

Sponsors

• Alderman Isaac Carothers http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1170221465.1240317409@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadehdgdlkgjcefecelldffhdfhm.0&contentOID=536897998&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Ward&entityName=Ward29&deptMainCategoryOID=-536883670&blockName=Ward29/Content&context=dept

 

• Alderman Emma Mittshttp://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0517900694.1240317610@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadehdgdejmdcefecelldffhdfhk.0&contentOID=536898240&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Ward&entityName=Ward37&deptMainCategoryOID=-536883537&blockName=Ward37/Content&context=dept

 

Congressman Danny Davis http://www.davis.house.gov/

Sponsors

• Representative Brandon W. Phelps (D) 118th District-Agriculture & Conservation Committee Chairperson

http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1458

• Representative Robert Rita (D) 28th District-Business & Occupational Licenses Committee Chairperson

http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1466

 

• Representative William Davis (D) 30th District-Health & Healthcare Disparities Committee Chairperson

http://www.ilga.gov/house/Rep.asp?MemberID=1449

Barriers

• Lack of cooperation from sponsors or advocates due to current economic stress

• Legal barriers to creating food policy council or passing food policy laws

• Lack of participation by local residents due to long-standing pessimism, misinformation, or lifestyle constraints

Costs

• Diseases attributable to poor diet cost $250 billion for the healthcare industry nationwide

• $14,000/year per person in added health costs

• $50,000 needed for create a food policy council

Closing Remarks

• Plant a garden (personal or community garden)• Buy from a farmer’s market• Cook

– Through that, you’re already supporting local agriculture

• Eat less meat – 40% of agriculture goes for feeding livestock and

animals– Will free up more land for producing healthy fruits and

vegetables

References

• http://www.cchsd.org/pdfs/Ca25.pdf

• http://www.metroplanning.org/press/mpcnews.asp?objectID=3518

• http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/watch.html

• http://www.statefoodpolicy.org/?pageID=profiles#Illinois

• http://www.chicagofoodpolicy.org/resources.htm

• http://www.foodsecurity.org/

• http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalEntityHomeAction.do?entityName=Health&entityNameEnumValue=21

• http://www.idph.state.il.us/

• http://www.ilga.gov/