-So we are so excited to be here today.
We are going to unveil the revised updated
Food Action Plan,
which is the first time it has been updated
since the plan was originally created in 2012.
Let's give a round of applause for that.
And we are so excited about this plan
because it is our city's vision and guide for an equitable,
sustainable, resilient,
local food system
that is so crucial to building a thriving healthy Seattle
for every single person who lives here.
So we're excited about that.
But before we turn it over to our speakers,
we are going to watch a short video
that features community-based food projects
that exemplify the Food Action Plan and priorities
to increase community food security,
support locally grown food,
foster an equitable inclusive local economy,
and prevent food waste.
So with that, we're going to queue up the video.
Get comfortable.
-The Food Action Plan is the City of Seattle's
guide for how we can support the local food system
through our policies and our programs and our investments.
The updated Food Action Plan aims to amplify
the priorities and values of our local food system leaders.
They're forging bold
and innovative solutions to tackle some
of our greatest food system challenges like food insecurity,
racial and economic disparities, climate change,
food supply chains, and infrastructure, and food waste.
Increasing community food security and access
to affordable, nutritious, and culturally relevant foods
is a key goal in the Food Action Plan.
And there are many community-based organizations
throughout the city
who are providing a key link between food security programs
and their communities.
-Starting in 2020,
we became an enrollment partner for the Fresh Bucks program.
We have enrolled about 700 people, if not more.
One of the aspects that I love
is to be able to provide for those community members
like Guadalupe,
who has given so much of her life to the city of Seattle.
-[ Speaking in Spanish ]
[ Continues in Spanish ]
-Many of the priorities and actions
in the updated Food Action Plan
are deeply interconnected to one another.
And you're going to see this in examples
like the South Delridge Farmer's Market,
where you have a farmer's market and community-led
effort that is addressing
both equitable economic development opportunities
for local food and farming businesses
and bringing culturally relevant food access to the neighborhood.
-ACHD is part of the African diaspora community.
We've been serving this community for many, many years
and we understand the culture and the nuances
that go into creating high-quality,
culturally responsive programs.
And that's why I think the Delridge Farmer's Market is
so successful because we reflect the community that we serve.
-We have a free produce bag program at the Farmer's Market
where we offer culturally relevant produce in bags
that are just ready to grab and go with no questions asked.
We also offer Youth Bucks so all the kids can get a chance
to shop and practice healthy shopping habits for themselves.
-For you, $5. Thanks for coming. -Can you say gracias?
-Gracias.
-We also have all of the SNAP EBT Fresh Bucks benefits.
-There you are sir. Appreciate it.
-And you have general care.
And then can we have some -- -We're just getting started.
Delridge Market has been operating
for the last three years,
and we imagine it to continue running for years to come.
-Oh, thank you.
-City of Seattle has a long history
of supporting urban agriculture and urban farming,
and it's really exciting to see so many young people taking
up food justice issues through urban agricultural projects.
-Y-We Grow is our farming and food
justice program based here at Marra Farm in South Park.
And our goals are to create access to health,
wellness, embodiment,
joy in the outdoors and in relationship with the land.
-Then we want this piece in here.
-They're using power tools to build these beautiful beds
that we're going to fill with healthy soil and grow food in.
-There you go. Nice.
-Being an intern at Y-We makes me feel seen and heard.
And having that community makes me feel
like I'm not alone in this work
and that I am doing something greater as a collective.
-Raise your core. -One, two, three.
-Raise the core, raise the core.
-Hey, this one is heavy.
-There you go.
-Young people just showing up to the farm,
they are making an impact.
Taking agency in their food systems is an act of resistance.
And then from there they develop love, they develop care,
they develop this sense of community and collective
where they want to take responsibility
and they have the outlets to do so.
And we understand that we're one piece in this wider mosaic
across the city of incredible folks doing this work.
-Local food businesses are a really important part
of the Seattle economy,
and we have a very diverse and vibrant restaurant scene,
and there's many entrepreneurs throughout the city
who are bringing their rich cultures and cuisines
to our neighborhoods.
-Musang started as a popup in 2016
and it was really just a way
to introduce Filipino food and culture.
We decided to make that decision of creating a space
for our community, not just a restaurant space,
but a place to celebrate, to gather, to support.
Musang was never going to just be a restaurant.
It's always been focused on the people behind the scenes.
This place couldn't exist if it wasn't for everyone else
that is here putting in the work every day,
sharing their stories, sharing their talents.
When we say community driven,
it's because the people that work here
are part of the community.
Musang's food is based on our childhood memories
of Filipino food. Before we open every day,
our team gets together and we talk about Filipino history.
We talk about Filipino specific ingredients.
We give the front of house an opportunity to taste new dishes.
Whenever I see the dining room full,
being able to see
that grandparents are able to share their Filipino memories
with their grandkids,
I think that's all I've ever really wanted,
is for my family to be in a place
that they can feel really proud to be Filipino.
-Preventing food waste and how we manage our food waste
is a really important topic in the Food Action Plan.
Some communities are coming up with very creative solutions
to create a more circular food system.
-Restaurant 2 Garden is a community composting project,
and our goal is to decentralize food scraps management
in an urban setting.
We are based in the Seattle Chinatown-International
District neighborhood.
We work with two food service businesses.
So we work with Itsumono Seattle and
Panama Hotel Coffee and Tea House.
Every week we pick up the food scraps,
bring it up to the garden,
we weigh how much we have collected,
we do some level of sorting, so sort out things
that don't belong in the compost piles such as plastics,
and then we do bokashi composting.
Think about it as pickling food with beneficial bacteria.
We put it in the earth cube,
which is an in-vessel hot composter for about eight weeks.
Then we have volunteers to sift out compost through a screen.
Then that's the harvested compost
that we give out to the Danny Woo community gardeners.
-Hey, thank you.
-I'm inspired by the community-led projects
and activities
that I see every day happening in our local food system.
And I'm also really hopeful because I see what can happen
when we have meaningful
and effective collaboration
between community groups and government
who work together to co-create solutions
and change through our policies and programs.
The value of the Food Action Plan is that it presents a bold
and hopeful future for equitable,
sustainable, and resilient local food system.
And it includes 50 actions to get us there.
-Okay.
That was a wonderful video
that shared so much about the city's food work
across many different sectors.
So now I'd like to invite all of our speakers to come on up,
all of them all at once.
Everyone who's speaking is going to come stand behind me
and I just want to mention
that Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth has arrived.
Let's give her a round of applause.
So I am so delighted to now introduce Seattle's
mayor, Bruce Harrell. It is such a joy and delight
to get to be a part of his administration.
He has been so focused on addressing food security,
especially for families with children throughout his career.
And his administration has been so tireless
in its efforts to really invest in equitable,
sustainable, local food systems
that we just got to see showcased in this great video.
So with that, let's give a warm round of applause
for our mayor, Bruce Harrell.
-Thank you. Thank you, Jessyn. You guys are in for a treat.
I have a really, really good speech to give.
You know why it's really, really good?
Because it's short.
Let me see if I could tighten this up a little bit.
You know it's sort of funny is I --
yesterday around this time
I was just a couple blocks away at the Rite Aid
and I got my flu shot and my COVID shot,
and I didn't read the effects could be fatigued the next day.
So I got to get my energy right here.
I am very excited about what we're talking
about this afternoon, and I have a lot of people
to thank, including all of our partners.
That is you.
You doing this -- sometime I call it God's work,
but I probably shouldn't say that being a politician.
Just good work.
And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that.
I do want to first say who my -- who our special guest is.
We have Dr. Kimberly McClain,
who you may know her as the Senate-confirmed
Assistant Secretary for HUD.
Her portfolio is in the congressional
and inter-government relations. She's here.
We're going to tour Fort Lawton and do some other work here.
And I invited her here as part of the Biden administration.
Biden-Harris, I'm sorry.
I don't know why I'm saying Harris louder.
The Biden-Harris administration. And by way of background,
she's a retired US Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel.
But if you look at --
and she has a background in cybersecurity.
Yes.
This sister is a superstar by any stretch of the imagination.
But I thought it'd be very appropriate for her to just see,
just to see what we're trying to do with your great work
and your great ideas here in the Biden administration.
So I'm going to ask Dr. Kimberly McClain just
to greet you from the Biden-Harris administration.
Please say a few words to this crowd.
-Thank you so much.
Well, good afternoon or quasi-morning
depends on what part of the country you are living in.
On behalf of President Biden and Vice President Harris,
I bring you greetings
from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It is absolutely my honor and pleasure
to be back here in Seattle.
The community that I lived in right
after I graduated from college on Western and Broad.
And remember walking down the waterfront long
before it looked like the waterfront that Mayor Harrell
and his administration has really poured into today.
Food insecurity is absolutely critical.
Absolutely critical.
It is one of those social determinants of health
that HUD is absolutely honored to be a part of in making sure
that we build healthy and strong communities.
So I thank you for what you're doing.
I am a foodie by heart, so you caught me at food and, yes,
as I was walking up.
So thank you for what you were doing each and every day
to make our communities resilient and healthy.
Thank you again, Mayor Harrell.
I look forward to today
and look forward to hearing what Seattle is doing with regards
to its food plan.
Thank you again.
-Thank you, Dr. McClain.
So in addition to our outstanding
250 community partners,
they are in our eight city departments
that are just doing awesome work.
There are some, what I'll call,
unsung heroes doing some of this work.
And I just want to recognize a few our human services,
food and nutrition advisor, Sean Walsh,
our office's sustainability and environment
food policy programs, advisor, Bridget Igoe.
You saw her in there, and Chris Iberle.
And again, I'm very thankful
that Councilmembers Woo and Hollingsworth are here.
We know Councilmember Woo just lives a few block from here
and, you know, of course,
Councilmember Hollingsworth is a CD person.
Thanks for coming out here where the rhythm is --
the rhythm of the City is out here in the South End,
Councilmember Hollingsworth.
And thank both of you for prioritizing,
again, food insecurity and what we're trying to do.
I want to start with a quick quote
that was stated by the philosopher known
as the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates.
He said,
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
When you are doing this kind of work, you know,
particularly with school starting,
can a student really concentrate on their studies
when they are hungry?
Can an adult reach their full potential when they are hungry
and starving and undernourished? You know they cannot.
In a city that is full of resources,
we are a resource rich country and city,
that if we are to be everything we can be,
this kind of work becomes essential.
And quite candidly, we need people like you
or they're not going to get filthy rich doing
this kind of work.
You're not going to get that whatever
the materialistic desires could be,
maybe you will buy a lottery ticket in it.
I don't want to count you out.
You do this work because you're mission-driven;
you believe in something greater than yourself.
And again, when we had come up with our plan,
we cannot do it without you.
We are somewhat considered a leader
in prioritizing funding for food and what we're trying to do.
And that's why my work in DC
what I brag about is the work
that not we do in my administration,
but what our community does, we try to be community-based.
Here's some startling statistics.
Ten percent of Seattle adults face food insecurity daily,
and the rates are two to three times
higher for families of color;
26.5% of households in Southeast Seattle,
where we are right now, experience food insecurity.
That's one out of every four people;
the highest rate in the city. Grocery prices,
as we all know, have risen 25% over the last four years.
Washington produces a half a million tons
of food waste every year.
Our state, a half a million tons of food waste every year
that is still edible.
Enough food to make 105 meals for every person in the state.
So we look at the ecosystem that you're involved with
and we try to -- just how smart can we be as a city?
And again, your idea is that we flowed
into our action plan becomes critical
because we shouldn't have anyone hungry in this city.
The updated action plan includes 45 very specific actions.
I'll just hum a few bars and you'll hear more details later.
For example,
purchasing locally sourced
and culturally relevant foods for schools
and strengthening food banks and meal programs.
You saw that on the video.
Increasing equitable land access for agricultural projects,
purchasing food from tribal groups for city food programs.
Implementing strong labor protections for farm workers
and strengthening assistance for small food business.
That becomes critical.
That becomes critical when we stand behind our farm workers
and our employees and increasing composting,
strengthening food rescue operations,
and creating city business partnerships prevent food waste.
Now, I'll close with this.
We have 250 community partners who work with the city
over the years to develop this update.
I'm grateful to each one of you.
Now, I think we all could agree I have a very tough job.
You're supposed to laugh at that.
I didn't -- no one just chuckled.
I have a very tough job.
But you know what? You have a very tough job too.
You have to do more with less.
You have to fight your own issues of
where you are in your own life to do this mission-based work.
You have a tough job too. So I don't whine to anyone
because I cannot do my job without you.
So I close by thanking you,
thanking you very much for your leadership
and your commitment to the city and to others.
And with that, I'll pass it back to the outstanding awesome,
the myth, the legend, the real person, Jessyn Farrell.
-Thank you so much, Mayor Harrell.
We are so grateful for your leadership and
passion on this issue.
And before I move on to our next speaker,
I wanted to thank Dr. McClain for joining us today.
And also welcome, Andrew Lofton,
who is our region administrator for HUD.
So thank you so much for being here.
Let's give a round of applause.
Thank you. Thank you.
So next I would like to introduce Tremayne Edwards,
who is the Director of Operations
for one of our storied food organizations in the city,
Byrd Barr Place,
which provides direct service, community action, advocacy,
to build a more equitable future.
And their programs include housing and energy assistance,
a food bank, and personal financial resources.
We are so happy that you are here to speak today.
Please give me a -- please give Tremayne a warm welcome.
Thank you. -All right.
Well, she took some of my thunder, but thank you.
Thank you all.
My name,
as stated, is Tremayne Edwards and I do have the honor
and the privilege of serving as Director of Operations
at Byrd Barr Place.
I've been there for just about a year now.
We are an organization
that has been dedicated to our movement
of serving the Seattle community as a Black-led organization
for about 60 years now.
And if you're also for the folks out there
thanking Byrd Barr Place, CAMP,
if you also remember the days of CAMP -- I see some heads nodding
and I pulled you in. So CAMP as well.
As stated, we have many different lovely programs,
but today really speaking around our programs
that are designed to meeting the essential needs
of individuals and families.
And we believe that these resources are vital
for building stronger and more resilient communities.
And today's Food Action Plan is the city's roadmap
for that sustainable and equitable path forward
that supports these healthy and vibrant communities.
And before I came to Byrd Barr Place,
I always like to mention that my previous work
that brought me to Seattle,
to bring into Washington state was gun violence prevention.
And something that we always know that is true in that space
is that well-resourced communities are
safer communities.
So something that every day I have pride in showing
up each day is I'm a part of that well-resourced community
that offers that safety.
And one of those pillars of our foundation of safety
at Byrd Barr Place is ensuring safety from food insecurity.
And as Seattle continues to grapple with the issues
of food access and affordability,
Byrd Barr Place is experiencing this increasing need
for food security in our community.
Through our various food programs,
be it our No-Cook bags that help folks that are unhoused,
be it our in-person visits
that folks can come in for their needs,
or our home delivery services as well for those
that are unable to get to us physically.
We see this direct impact for the lack of access to healthy
and affordable and culturally relevant foods
has on our neighbors.
And it's not just about providing food,
it's about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
If Dr. Griffin, our CEO, were here right now,
she often believes greatly in that we're not just living,
but that we're thriving.
So food security -- thank you for the woo.
I'm an only child. Thank you for that.
Food security is a critical issue
that affects the wellbeing of our entire community.
And at Byrd Barr Place,
we understand that access to nutritious foods
is a basic human right
and an essential part of a healthy life.
And we are committed to creating a more equitable,
sustainable, and resilient local food system.
And this means to continue to advocate
for wonderful strategies like today
and the initiatives that we're launching to continue
to address that access,
to continue to ensure that all residents have the resources
that they need to be healthy and fulfilling lives.
And the mayor also -- in giving his quote
that inspired me to give my favorite quote
after watching the video that we got the witness today,
I'm all about community engagement.
And one of my founding guiding principles that I use every day
and I show up into work
is that true community engagement is
about helping the community find their power.
Which I've always said then reminds us
that they've always had the power
and it's our job collectively to continue
to impact our communities in a powerful way.
So thank you for all being a part of that collective
together to making a stronger, safer, thriving community.
Thank you. -Thank you so much.
And I just really appreciate bringing in the nexus
of community safety, community health,
and gun violence prevention.
We really appreciate your work.
Thank you so much.
And let's turn the page here. Okay.
Next, I am so delighted to welcome to the podium
Val Segrest who is the principal at Tahoma Peak Solutions,
a native woman-owned firm specializing in
strategic communications and food systems planning.
She has dedicated her work to efforts
that advance food sovereignty, food security,
rooted in education awareness,
and overcoming barriers to accessing traditional foods
for tribal communities.
We are so thrilled to have you here today.
Join me in giving her a warm welcome.
[ Speaking native language ]
--- Valerie Segrest --
[ Speaking native language ] It's good to be here.
And I'm so excited for this day.
I'm so inspired by today.
I think about -- I'm reminded of my ancestors,
you know, my lineage.
I come from the Wilbur and Purcell family,
which is a Muckleshoot family,
but also has deep ties to Suquamish
and to Yallop and Snoqualmie and Swinomish.
And I can say all that
because our Coast Salish ancestors
have always intermarried for access to food systems,
for strategic thinking and food action plans
that have stood the test of time
and have fed people very well for a very long time.
I chose to study nutrition,
not just because I come from an underserved community that has,
you know, epidemic rates of nutrition-related
and preventable diseases.
But also, because I was hungry and not just hungry for food,
hungry for connection to one another,
hungry for the stories of our food
and learning more about our cultural origins
and our food traditions.
And it has only been, you know,
about a century since in all of humankind existence,
when we started considering food on a more individual level
and forgot and turned away from food
as a more of a community focus.
Food is an incredible organizing tool.
It feeds all of us.
And as my elders always remind me, food is a gift.
It is here not just to be a resource or commodity,
but also it is our greatest teacher.
And in this case, you know, in Seattle,
we're looking at salmon,
of course the cultural keystone species of the Muckleshoot
and all of Coast Salish tribes.
But there's also rich food forests and intertidal lands
that were rich with shellfish and seaweeds
and all kinds of things
that used to be in the city of Seattle.
And while that foodscape doesn't look the same,
the values,
we still have the ability to apply in this generation;
values that have upheld food systems since time began.
And those look like our foods are local.
Our foods are seasonal.
Our foods support local economies,
and not just in a monetary way,
but in a way that honors the way
people want to live a life of dignity.
Our food, what we do here in Seattle,
specifically, impacts South King County.
It impacts the entire state really.
And what we do in South King County also impacts us here.
On the way in this morning,
I was listening to my partner who's here in the room
and hiding somewhere. His name is Louie Ungaro.
He's a Muckleshoot tribal councilmember, a fisherman.
And he was talking to his fellow fisher and councilmember
about, you know, managing salmon and how we do it.
And the tribe has been doing this for -- you know,
archeologists say 10,000 years, we say since time began.
But about 40 years ago, Muckleshoot really started
prioritizing, making sure that salmon continued
to return to these waters.
And 40 years later and a lot of money later,
we are seeing success in our returns.
And that is after inheriting a colonized system
that we are now working to regenerate.
And I say all that
because aquaculture doesn't always get the praise
that it needs, you know?
It's a lot of hard work.
And not only was that discussion this morning
about worrying about our fishers and their way of life,
but also the future.
How are we going to continue fishing this way?
And what we've done with this return
that we've seen is actually prioritize, you know,
contracts and opportunities
that can feed our underserved people here in the city
through Operation Sack Lunch,
through all the incredible work that Bridget and Chris,
who are --
I don't even know
if they're going to get enough praise for today
because they really hold so much of this work.
And I appreciate value -- -- all of it like, right?
All of the time and effort
and personal relationships and thoughtfulness
that they put into making sure that this type of action
is going to be sustainable and successful.
So I could go on and on because I love talking about food
and I love talking about actions,
but I just want to remind us all
that this is such an important responsibility.
And while I am like -- I think we're lucky
that we have a city government that's showing up,
that we have an administration
that's showing up to support this.
It's also on all of us to,
you know, make sure we prioritize these values,
to make sure that we remember that our foods teach us
how to be a good ancestor,
and that we have the responsibility
to feed the future and think about them always.
That they're going to have a better system
and they're going to be able to look at this Food Action Plan
and see that we cared like we were thinking about it,
and we were putting a way finder out there
for them to be able to find their way because,
you know, this addresses so many issues
that we're concerned about.
It addresses economy, it addresses climate resilience,
it addresses a lot of things when we can get it right.
But it's going to take all of us,
all of us to really animate a food system
that feeds the future.
So thank you.
I'm so proud of all of you for being here and I appreciate it.
Thank you. -Thank you so much, Valerie.
We are so grateful for your perspective and your work.
Thank you. Thank you.
I would now like to introduce Sara Osborne,
who is the Director of Government and Public Affairs
at Safeway and Albertsons. In her role,
she is the heart of many public
and private efforts to address food security,
prevent food waste, and support Food is Medicine strategies.
Thanks to Sara,
Safeway is a major retail partner
of our Fresh Bucks program.
Let's give Sara a warm round of applause.
-Thank you, everyone.
So as she said, my name is Sara Osborne
and I'm here representing Safeway,
but more importantly our 17 store teams
from around the city.
And I really want to thank the city for welcoming us
to the table as they created the Food Action Plan.
And I have to lower this.
So for me it was very clear, you know,
the foremost consideration of the Food Action Plan
was the perspective of the people
who needed greater access to food
as the programs are being extended to meet people
where they already are
and overcome the barriers of where and
when they can go to meet those needs.
In addition,
I feel like underlying this plan was an awareness
that food is so much more than food.
Food is connection, food is joy,
food is tradition, and food is really family in all forms.
So as such, like the dignity of choice for
both the manner in which the food is accessed
and the type of food people get to select
is as essential as the food itself.
I know that our store teams have been proud,
very proud to be longtime Fresh Bucks retailers,
which is a meaningful compliment
to the SNAP Produce Match program statewide,
which, thanks to Bridget Igoe,
has been at our stores for more than 10 years.
So together they provide
or supplement nutritious food assistance.
We know our customers are heartened to have the resources
to purchase the special vegetables to cook those meals
that remind them of home or those fruits
that they know their children would love to have
for an afternoon snack.
In addition, we have teams behind the scenes at our stores
who have been very inspiring by creating
process improvements and innovations
to ensure that the highest quantity and quality
of unsold food is freely redistributed
in their own communities.
As we are also very pleased to have just begun
a pilot program funded by SPU in partnership
with Feeding Feasible Feast. Raise your hand, Angel.
In which we are -- we have a transportation solution
to pick up the food in our stores
and redistribute them to community agencies,
like senior centers, immigration centers,
and even directly to households on the same day
that food is donated from the store.
And the last one,
that direct-to-household, that's thanks to you,
District Food Bank.
So I don't know if Joe is still here,
but they do great work redistributing food directly
to households on the same day they receive it.
In addition,
our store teams rally together
for our Nourishing Neighbors fundraisers
to help improve food security in their own communities.
By distributing both grocery cards,
a program that Councilmember Hollingsworth used to help
manage in her former life at Northwest Harvest
and as well as grants amounting to more than 20 million
in support in the city in the last five years.
So again, thank you for the city for making this a truly,
truly collaborative process.
We know that it takes more than food to end hunger,
and we also need it --
we know it takes collaboration from all of the sectors
to really make this a food secure city.
-Thank you so much, Sara.
We so appreciate your partnership.
And now I would like to introduce Councilmember
Tanya Woo,
who is the chair
of the City Light Sustainability and Arts and Culture Committee,
which will be hearing the resolution in honor
of the Food Action Plan tomorrow.
So tune in.
But without any further ado, Councilmember Woo.
-Colleagues and esteemed and cherished committee members,
my name is Tanya Woo.
I live right down the street,
so I'm so thrilled to see so many of you
here from all over the city in my neighborhood.
And here to celebrate the Seattle's
Food Action Plan, especially.
So I know this plan isn't just a roadmap
but a call to hope for equitable,
sustainable and resilient local food systems
that supports healthy communities across Seattle.
I grew up here in South Seattle.
I remember going to Van Asselt school
and having breakfast and lunch there during the summer.
I remember walking to my community centers
for their lunch bag program
and walking and sharing food with community members.
In my work, in the Community Watch program,
we use food,
we use meals to talk to many of our unhoused neighbors.
And I always love going to our local P-patches
and seeing community come together with our seniors,
with our young people
and with community members just celebrating the day,
celebrating food
and working together to fight food insecurity.
Growing up in Beacon Hill,
I understand and witnessed the challenges and disparities
in accessing healthy, affordable food.
And I'm so happy to see so many people working
so hard on this plan.
By promoting food security and sovereignty,
the Food Action Plan embodies our One Seattle values
as it addresses economic, racial,
and environmental injustices. And so this plan is a testament
to the hard work collaboration and dedication of all of you
who have contributed your expertise and passion
to this plan.
And so I want to thank all the five core departments
at the city and our community partners for all your work
and the 250 leaders and food system experts
that represented small businesses,
urban farms, the tribes,
and so much more for uplifting the voices
that need to be heard to make a plan like this so successful.
And yes, as the chair of the Sustainability Committee,
I'm excited to see this come through my committee
tomorrow morning.
And I believe this plan is a food system
that not only nourishes bodies
by making nutritious food more accessible,
but it also uplifts our communities
and protects our planet for future generations to enjoy,
regardless of everyone's backgrounds.
And so thank you for everyone's hard work.
I'm so excited that we are all here together
to celebrate this plan.
And I am looking forward for feed generation
to be able to enjoy and for communities to thrive.
Thank you.
-Thank you so much, Councilmember Woo.
We so appreciate your leadership.
And now I am going to introduce Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth
from District 3, who of course is a food champion, well known.
And so let's give her a warm welcome
and we're so glad you're here.
-Thank you. Food champ? Yeah.
We all are food champions, right?
We all like to eat.
Let me make sure this microphone -- -- I'm sorry.
Thank you.
-You got it. -Thank you, Mayor.
Isn't he the best? I can just hold it.
I can hold it. I know, I kind of broke it.
I'll just hold it. I'll just be good.
Thank you, Mayor.
I know the Mayor gives me a little slack
because I am in District 2 right now.
I represent District 3, which is Central District,
but I have to say my parents live in Rainier Beach.
So I represent D2,
and Rainier Beach or D3 and Rainier Beach, Skyway.
And, you know, Skyway.
got some Skyway people up here and the Speed-E Mart, right?
To want to give them a shout out.
Want to thank the Mayor on this as well.
I've had many conversations about the Food Action Plan
and, you know,
one of the things that I know his administration is
extremely passionate about our kids
and making sure that our kids have accessible food,
especially during the weekends.
We know that's one of the times
that kids do not have access to food.
And that three square meals,
they get their meals during the week and then summers as well.
And so just want to thank him on his vision and
leadership for this.
And also, Director Farrell for her team
and the design and the implementation of this program.
And last but not least, you all the people
who are in the room every single day,
making sure people have nutritious food,
setting up, you know, your distribution sites,
making sure maybe you're cooking meals, whatever it is,
making sure that food is getting to people.
Thank you all.
I've have had the time to spend my time at Northwest Harvest
and I know Sara -- we call her Safeway Sara,
if you didn't know.
That's her nickname.
So make sure when you see her call her Safeway Sara.
But had the time to work with Sara
and a lot of you in this room
that I see a lot of familiar faces.
And I think one of the things during the pandemic
that really woke a lot of people
up was how fragile our food system is
and how we have to get real about the sustainability of it.
And that's why I'm really excited about this plan
because of the piece about food waste,
which is incredibly important.
Thirty to 40% of our food
that goes into landfill is food waste.
And so extending the life of the food,
making sure, you know,
if it's restaurants or grocery stores
or however we're getting that food in that ecosystem,
we are putting it back.
Because by 2050,
it is estimated we have to grow 50% more food
for us to be able to consume.
And if we just cut that down by, you know,
redirecting food and extending the life of it,
that will be able to bring that number down.
And one of the things that give me so much inspiration,
are stories that you all did every single day.
I remember there was a nurse
who did a full shift at Swedish Hospital
and then she came and stood in line
for two hours just to get a bag of groceries
during the pandemic,
and the joy and the relief on her face
just to have that bag of groceries.
Or another woman who stood in line for two hours in her car
and got a bag of groceries
and came all the way from Bremerton to Seattle
and then was crying after she got those groceries.
That is what you all see every single day.
There's also a woman up here, I call her Grandma.
I don't know her real name.
We just say, Grandma. You all got people like that?
You just say Auntie; you don't know her real name.
So her name is Grandma.
And she had her apartment just right up here
South Parkway Apartments turned her living room
and her dining room into a food pantry to serve her community
because there was a lot of elderly people in that building
and they could not get to a food access point to get groceries.
And that became a distribution center for about a year
during the pandemic.
So I'm really excited about this plan
because I think Seattle has an opportunity
to be a really true leader in food access,
food accessibility, especially in the country.
And last but not least, I had a great visit,
I think Ms. Gloria is here from our Rainier Valley Food Bank,
which is great.
And just wanted to give you a shout out.
I know we had a recent visit
and they went from just north of Columbia City,
moved into here, right?
Just right across the street from the Safeway gas station.
And I recently saw their building
and their plans for what they want to do
and it is absolutely phenomenal about all the resources
that are going to happen.
All the food accessibility.
Rainier Beach is finally going to get what it deserves.
And having -- I know. You all can clap for that.
And having -- -- and being able to serve our community.
We always talk about what the North End gets
and all these other things;
now we have, especially in the South End,
what it should look like and what it should be.
And I'm super excited for that.
So thank you all for being here.
Really appreciate the opportunity.
Looking forward to continuing to fighting this effort of hunger
and making sure people have nutritious food for life.
Thank you. I broke it. I'm sorry.
-Thank you, Councilmember Hollingsworth.
One more round of applause for everyone in this room.
You all are so amazing,
and we so appreciate everything that you've done.
So with that,
we are going to conclude the speech-making part
of the celebration.
There is food in the back
and we would love to invite the press to ask any questions
if you have some.
And so staff, we may ask you to come join us and Director Kim.
Thank you. Okay. So with that, any questions?
-I have a question for the Mayor.
-Okay.
-Yes, Mr. Lynch.
How can I help you?
-Will you bottom line for me,
you know, in certain terms of
why this program is so important to this city?
-The question is,
will I bottom line you on why this is so important in Seattle?
I think I have two reasons why this is so important.
We boast in this city
about how well many of these large companies do.
Per capita,
we have a higher income than a lot of major cities.
If we can't figure out how to feed the poor here,
then our country is in dire straits.
And I know we have the political will,
we have the community will, and we need a plan and systems
in place to do it.
And that's why this is so important.
Number 2, we are living in historic times,
no matter how you look at it.
This is history every day we're making here,
not just in the city, in this country.
Look at -- you know, I was asked a question the other day,
I don't know how you're going to get this in an article,
by the way.
I was asked a question
when I graduated from Garfield in certain year.
I'm old. 1976, I'm proud, I'll wear it.
I said,
"Are you better off then right after the Civil Rights era
than you are now graduating from high school in 2024?"
That was a very tough question
because I thought about the advances
we'd made after the Civil Rights era
and as being a political scientist and an attorney,
I really wanted to give an intelligent answer.
I couldn't because I struggled with it,
that we are struggling with this issue right now
when we have the resources. That's why this is so important.
So when we -- we don't want to -- you know,
one thing that I think makes our country great
is we don't have to pound our chest
and talk about how great we are.
You become great by serving.
This is a servant community right here.
In my administration,
I think I have four or five department heads,
they are excellent at serving.
And I try to show by example
and that's why I said I have the greatest asset of any mayors
and I talk to all the mayors all the time; this community.
So that's my second answer,
is we can show this country what we could do
if we get this plan right.
Now, you got to figure out, Mr. Lynch, how to condense that.
Did I give you at least one quote?
He's a friend.
So any other questions before we break bread?
I'll close it, Jessyn, if I may.
Unless there's another question.
Okay. We're going to go. I'll count you down.
Three, two, One Seattle because of you.
Thank you very much.