“Visions of a 21st Century Food System,” a lecture about food production practices, educated attendees of the potential efficiency and sustainability of a regional food system in Santa Barbara.
The lecture took place at 6:30 on Sunday evening, Oct. 29 at the Fe Bland Auditorium on West Campus. It was sponsored by the City College Center for Sustainability as a part of their “Cities as the Solution” series.
Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin was the keynote speaker and gave a presentation on his efforts toward food policy creation and implementation.
“When we talk about local food, we are talking about something that has stimulated a tremendous amount of energy among people and businesses and communities all over this country,” said Conlin, “and yet we have a system that is really not designed to make local food accessible and to allow this concept to flourish.”
A year after his third re-election in 2009, Conlin spearheaded the passage of Seattle’s Local Food Action Initiative, which created a policy framework through which the city’s local government made locally grown, organic produce more readily available.
Part of the legacy of the initiative was the creation of the Regional Food Policy Council to help facilitate the fulfillment of the initiative’s goals. He explained the Council was drawn from representatives from different sectors of the local Seattle food industry to act as a government advisory board.
“What that does is provide an element of legitimacy to everyone who is involved,” Conlin said. “We know that the policies that come out of that are going to have a high rate of consensus.”
Conlin is convinced that what worked for Seattle can work for Santa Barbara.
After the conclusion of his presentation, an eight-member discussion panel of Santa Barbara agriculture representatives was on the stage to deliberate with the audience about how ideas like the Local Food Action Initiative could benefit the Santa Barbara community. Among the panel members was California State Assembly Member Das Williams, a former Goleta native and representative of District 35, which includes Santa Barbara and Ventura.
Conlin asserts that by coordinating the interests of businesses, producers, farmers and community members will help make locally produced food more accessible and environmentally sustainable without sacrificing its economic viability.
“Whatever we do on local food issues, it’s great that we do it locally,” Conlin said. “But the more of it that happens around the country and around the world, the better off we’re all going to be. Sustainability is everybody’s job.”
