After four years of planning, community engagement and cooperating with local farmers, the Whatcom County Food System Plan will begin implementation.
The Whatcom County Food System Plan aims to create a more equitable and sustainable food system over 10 years. It outlines its objectives in five separate goals, ranging from equity and justice to lessening food-related emissions and more.
“When we see a problem in our food system, like a hungry kid for example, it’s not just the kid doesn’t have food in front of them,” said Ali Jensen, program specialist at Whatcom County Health and Community Services. “There’s a whole slew of systemic issues that are impacting that kid … there’s just so many interconnected things.”
The Whatcom County Council unanimously approved the plan during its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 25, three months after voting to put it on hold due to concerns from Whatcom County Farmers and the Whatcom County Farm Bureau.
The two groups outlined nine concerns in a letter to the Food System Committee, all of which have since been recognized by the committee — and most resulting in some form of edit to the final plan.
“The people that were in the room that were making the suggestions, when I asked them what their opinion was, they said, ‘Well, we didn’t get all the changes that we thought it needed but it’s good enough,’” council member Ben Elenbaas said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Revisions were made through discussions with the concerned parties, and edits to the plan were finalized after three separate committee meetings. Council initially intended to revisit the plan in June. Some edits were as simple as adding the word “farmers” to a sentence. Other revisions included deleting sections that did not comply with laws surrounding food production.
“Everyone has different knowledge where they come from and we can’t get everything right,” Jensen said.
While the plan outlines many systemic goals, the committee is starting with some of the easier ones, said Riley Sweeney, chair of the committee. These include goals such as supporting food banks and expanding commercial kitchen spaces.
Sweeney describes the plan as a “living document.” Even though it has been approved by the county council, there will still be revisions, edits and other changes made as projects begin and evolve over time.
“From seed to sandwich, the entire food system is tied together,” Sweeney said. “We need to start supporting it as a complete system.”
