Michigan County a Model for Citizen Involvement in Land Use

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The Mid South Delta Initiative is an initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development programming area. To subscribe to the Mid South Delta Initiative's monthly e-newsletter, click www.msdi.org/newsletters/ subscribe.asp

People and Land (PAL) is a funding source for organizations working in land-use education, leadership development, planning model identification, and policy development. You may view PAL's bimonthly newsletter, PAL Update, at www.peopleandland.org/whatsnews.html To subscribe to the PAL Update, e-mail pal@peopleandland.org

Food and Society is an initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development programming area. To subscribe to the initiative's monthly e-newsletter, FAS Update, e-mail your request to: ndebeaufort@vancomm.com

Local government of local matters seems like a positive feature of a democracy. But what if it contributes to urban sprawl?

In many states, land use and zoning power is decentralized into the hands of thousands of local governments, many of them run by governing boards who know very little about land-use issues. Decision-making is often hampered by lack of information about land-use legislation, planning options, and opportunities. There’s also a great deal of turnover on zoning boards and very little access to technology such as global information systems. Moreover, local municipalities seldom work together to protect common resources.

With only a handful of exceptions, this is a pattern repeating itself across the United States. But one Michigan county, with the assistance of a small grant, has been working to break that pattern.

A citizen committee in Barry County, Mich., OUR-Land (Our Ultimate Resource), was the recipient of a People and Land (PAL) grant to convene citizens and government officials. The grant amount? A mere $4,700. The results appear promising for the future of Barry County land-use policy and leadership, and is serving as a model for other counties in Michigan and elsewhere.

A grant cluster of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Food Systems and Rural Development (FSRD) programming, PAL is an effort to bring diverse interests together to elevate the land-use discussion in Michigan.

With its small PAL grant, OUR-Land hosted a series of nine workshops for local elected officials and interested citizens throughout Barry County. Topics were varied and did not advocate particular positions or outcomes. They included the legal basis for planning and zoning, pending land-use legislation, the planning and zoning process in Barry County, land conservation options, corridor planning, economic development and land use, farmland preservation, water quality protection, lake and watershed management, and open space development and clustering.

The goals of the workshops were to improve understanding of land-use issues and ideas among the public and area officials and to encourage cooperation among the 22 governments and 11 planning and zoning organizations in Barry County. In all, more than 200 people participated, with 65 percent of these local elected officials and the remainder interested citizens. The involvement of citizens was a key feature of the seminars. As one participant noted, “Citizens have provided the consistency while government has experienced a constant change in players. To make real change, you have to have strong community leadership outside of the political part.”

A follow-up study found encouraging outcomes resulting from the OUR-Land grant, which appears to have helped further energize a county that already had strong citizen involvement in land use. After the seminars, 96 percent of the participants rated land-use planning as important, and 97 percent agreed that regular update seminars would be necessary. Among the findings was evidence of stronger countywide ordinances, more intensified and cooperative planning, the formation of task forces to explore corridor planning on a major thoroughfare, and a commitment to further “Citizen Planner” training through Michigan State University Extension.

 
 


National Immigrant Farming Initiative
Will Aid Struggling Population

Farming in America is a hard life. Farming in America if you are an immigrant can be downright brutal. That’s why Heifer International is using a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to fund a National Immigrant Farming Initiative, which will support local and regional immigrant farming projects in rural America. The gravity of this new effort is formidable as immigrant farmers are one of the fastest growing populations of new farmers in the United States.

According to Alison Cohen, Heifer’s northeast program manager, “The initiative will help immigrant farmers, many of whom are refugees, overcome a number of barriers to becoming self-reliant farmers.” Among the obstacles immigrant farmers in the United States face are language barriers, racial and cultural discrimination, and lack of access to credit, capital and land. Local, state, and federal farming programs generally are not well equipped to help immigrant farmers. And, Cohen says, immigrant farmers face some unique problems not faced by other immigrants. For example, some come from tropical climates and need training to acquire farming skills suitable for their new climate and agricultural zone.

Although Heifer has been working with immigrant farmers in individual American states for 10 years, this will be its first national initiative. The participating farmers will be associated with grassroots organizations that are partners with Heifer’s North American program. The initiative also will develop regional networks to benefit immigrant-farming programs to which Heifer does not provide direct assistance. In addition to providing farmers with training and assistance, the National Immigrant Farming Initiative will continue the Heifer tradition of “living loans,” whereby families receive livestock from the organization and then help others by passing on one of their animal’s offspring.

Heifer’s North America program has 10 immigrant farmer program partners in seven states and is working to add two more partners in the Pacific Northwest. The program partners work with immigrants from a variety of areas, including Somalia, Sudan, Cambodia and Latin America.

The National Immigrant Farmer Initiative will be a 10-year initiative, the first four years being funded by a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food Systems and Rural Development grant. During those first four years, Heifer will be supporting 12 projects and estimates that each project will reach 100 immigrant farmers.

Helping impoverished, undernourished families around the world to become more self-reliant has been the mission of Heifer International for more than 50 years. The organization grew out of the relief efforts of farmer Dan West during the Spanish Civil War. While doling out milk to the hungry, he realized the families he was helping needed “not a cup, but a cow.” He organized donations of heifers to help hungry families feed themselves. Those farmers could then help others by giving one of their animal’s calves to another needy family.

Since 1944, Heifer has worked with more than 4.5 million families in 125 countries. Although Heifer is widely recognized for its international work, its North America program has in fact been working with limited-resource farmers in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1947. Since then, Heifer has assisted families in 38 American states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 21 Mexican states. In December 2001, Worth magazine named Heifer International as one of the 100 best charities in the country. Worth praised Heifer’s ability to “work effectively with other groups on the scene, sharing information and resources.”

Today, Heifer International continues to provide livestock to families along with training in animal husbandry and environmentally sound farming. Heifer’s approach works because families gain a steady source of food and income. The training Heifer provides gives families new skills and a sense of pride because they are becoming self-reliant. Through this participatory process, individuals and communities develop the means to sustain their success.

For more information about the National Immigrant Farmer Initiative, contact:
Alison M. Cohen
Northeast Program Manager
Heifer International
88 Atlantic Avenue, #8
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-875-0887
Toll free: 800-359-9609
Fax: 718-875-2221
E-mail: alison.meares_cohen@heifer.org
www.heifer.org

 

  
 


Expert Resource: Mark Winne

Mark Winne is the executive director of the Hartford Food System in Connecticut. He has led the non-profit since 1979. During this time, Winne has organized and managed numerous grassroots food and agricultural projects designed to increase the food self-reliance of lower-income communities.

As executive director of the Hartford Food System, Winne has led the organization's effort to establish the region's emergency food bank, numerous community gardens and farmers' markets, a commercial hydroponic greenhouse, a neighborhood coop supermarket, Connecticut's Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, and a 20-acre community supported agriculture farm.

In addition to his director responsibilities, Winne is active in speaking and writing activities addressing the fields of community development, poverty, hunger and food system analysis. Winne recently served as chairman of the Connecticut Working Lands Alliance, a farmland preservation coalition with more than 130 members. He is currently an appointed member of the Connecticut Food Policy Council and is a member of the City of Hartford Advisory Commission on Food Policy.

Winne has been recognized for numerous awards including the 2001 USDA Secretary Award and the 2002 Special Merit Award from the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions. In 2002, the Thomas Jefferson Agriculture Institute and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy selected Winne as a Food and Society Policy Fellow. Through this fellowship, Winne devotes a portion of his time pursuing media placements and conference speaking opportunities to encourage the expansion of health-promoting, environmentally sound and locally driven and owned food systems.

Winne has a B.A. in sociology from Bates College, and a M.S. in community development from the University of Southern New Hampshire.

Contact:
Mark Winne
22 Charter Oak Place
Hartford, CT 06106
Tel: 860-246-9305
Fax: 860-296-8326
E-mail: mwinne@hartfordfood.org

Editor's Note: Mark Winne is one of many experts available as a resource to you. For a complete list of expert resources by subject area, please visit the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Web site at www.wkkf.org. Select "programming" from the menu and follow the link to Food Systems and Rural Development. Then, select "experts directory."

 
 


News Briefs

Local Action Spurs Computer Donation for Delta Children
Lillie Ayres saw a problem as she gazed down the streets of Glen Allan, Miss. “School children on summer break were out in the streets with nothing to do,” she recalls.

In addition to realizing their lack of something to do, Ayres also noted that the children did not have public access to computers. The town’s small library didn’t have computers available to the children, and school was closed for the summer.

Ayres, who is president of the Glen Allan Improvement Association, decided to take action. She contacted Mississippi State Representative Willie Bailey about establishing a literacy program in Glen Allan, and requested three computers. Bailey contacted Mississippi State Auditor Phil Bryant, who agreed to have the state donate three computers to Washington County. The Washington County Board of Supervisors, in turn, unanimously agreed to place the computers with the Glen Allan Improvement Association for its literacy program.

The computers were set up in the association’s office for the children to use under adult supervision. “The kids have been very excited about having them,” said Ayres, adding that the association plans to make the computers accessible to the community year-round. “We hope to make them available to children after school so they can do homework on them. And, we plan to make them available to adults as well.”

Ayres is a member of HEGA, a partnership of the Mississippi communities of Hollandale, Elizabeth and Glen Allan. HEGA seeks to bring economic growth opportunities to the communities by creating a transportation system that will provide access to jobs, educational and healthcare facilities and job training. HEGA is a community partner of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Mid South Delta Initiative. For more about HEGA, check out the following link to the MSDI Web site: http://www.msdi.org/community/teams.asp?p=15

Growing Projects Alleviate Hunger in Developing Countries
Income from 4,000 acres of crops being grown in the United States this year will be used to help alleviate world hunger. That word comes from Norm Braksick, executive director of the Foods Resource Bank, a non-government organization headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Foods Resource Bank raises money to support food security programs in developing countries through “Community Growing Projects” in the United States. In these projects, local churches, agribusinesses and others fund the planting, growing and harvesting of crops pledged for the program, while farmers donate their time, expertise and equipment. At harvest, the crops are sold and the proceeds are used to fund food security programs in developing countries.

“These funds help pay for tools, seed, water wells, fencing – whatever these people need to produce food for their families and communities,” says Braksick. Foods Resource Bank is providing funding for 17 programs in developing countries. Those countries include Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Serbia and Pakistan.

The 4,000 acres of cropland pledged by 98 Community Growing Projects to the program this year is almost double the 2,155 acres from 55 projects in 2002. The Community Growing Projects are located in 12 Midwest states stretching from western Pennsylvania west to Nebraska, and Kansas north to Minnesota and Michigan.

Braksick notes that 23 of this year’s 98 projects are “twinning” projects, where an urban or suburban church or organization partners with a rural church or organization to sponsor the project. These partnering projects build appreciation and understanding between urban and rural communities, and appreciation among urban residents for farming and for where their food comes from. It also builds awareness in both communities of the problem of world hunger.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has provided Foods Resource Bank a grant for organizational capacity building. For more information on Foods Resource Bank, call (269) 349-3467, or check out its Web site at www.FoodsResourceBank.org.

Undoing Racism – One Child at a Time
The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond hosted a racism workshop on July 8, 2003, at Coahoma College in Clarksdale, Miss. The “Undoing Racism” workshop was facilitated by youth leaders in the Mid-South Delta region and drew more than 50 participants. The workshop taught basic skills in effective community organizing, leadership development, coalition building and publicity skills.

The workshop also showed young people that they have a responsibility to dismantle the legacy of racism including individual, institutional and cultural racism. Program leaders wanted to bring the workshop to young adults, which is why they felt it was important that young people facilitate the workshop. This was the second workshop specifically geared toward youth.

With support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Mid-South Delta Initiative, the People’s Institute is hoping to build long-term economic development capacity and work with communities to end racism. For more information on the People’s Institute, visit its Web site at: www.thepeoplesinstitute.org.

Radio Series Turns up the Volume on Land Use Issues
People and Land, a grant cluster of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Food Systems and Rural Development (FSRD) programming, has agreed to underwrite a series of radio stories related to land use to be produced by the Great Lakes Radio Consortium (GLRC). With a network of 144 radio stations, including 23 in Michigan, GLRC is creating a combination of stories, features, commentaries and news pieces.

Much of the GLRC series is focusing on Smart Growth, breaking down the issue into ideas and reports that are relevant and immediate to listeners. Ranging from personal testimony and interviews to reports and expert analysis of controversies, the stories are engaging and often bring the issue of land use close to home. All stories produced by the Great Lakes Radio Consortium can be heard or read by visiting the consortium’s Web site at www.glrc.org.

ECD Invests to Bring High-Speed Internet Service to East Arkansas
The Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (ECD) has made an investment of $250,000 in AIR2LAN Inc. The funding will allow AIR2LAN to enter the West Memphis, Ark., market with its high-speed Internet service.

This investment continues a partnership between the ECD and AIR2LAN and was supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and other investors in a large regional initiative – Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP) – designed to catalyze innovation and support competitive small businesses.

ECD previously invested $500,000 in AIR2LAN through EMP to facilitate the broadband service company's expansion in the region.

AIR2LAN will first deploy Arkansas service to the West Memphis market, and then develop an expansion plan for additional communities across the state that are ready for service.

Holmes Hammett, manager of the West Memphis Chamber of Commerce, said, "We are pleased that West Memphis is an entry point for this important technology into the Arkansas market. Area businesses need the same resources that those in larger cities have." For more information, contact ECD’s Scot Slay at (601) 944-4175.

Industrialized Production Is Food Safety Concern
More than one billion pounds of milk are shipped annually to Missouri, from as far away as New Mexico and Utah. That takes place despite the fact that Missouri has the grass, grain and infrastructure capable of producing its own milk needs, notes Kyle Vickers, a Lohman, Mo., farmer and Food and Society Policy Fellow. Speaking to editors and writers of the nation’s farm publications at the recent Agricultural Publication Summit, he pointed out the vulnerability of our industrialized food system and its long shipping distances to terrorist attacks as well as accidental contamination.

Concentrated food production, with food shipped long distances from farm to processor to consumer, is increasing – for beef, pork and produce as well as milk, he added. Vegetables have been found to travel an average of 1,546 miles before ending up in Midwestern consumers’ shopping carts.

Vickers proposed that states and communities encourage local food production. That would decentralize the food system, thereby reducing its shipping distances and vulnerability while providing economic stimulus to local communities. Vickers is assisting a group of Missouri hog farmers who, through their cooperative, are raising and processing hogs in a local packing facility and selling pork through Missouri grocery stores and restaurants under their Heritage Acres Farms label.

Vickers noted that industrialized food production requires cheap labor, cheap grain, cheap water and cheap fuel. “We can’t count on these in the future. Water is already in short supply in the West,” he noted.

More than 370 agricultural writers, editors, publishers and communicators from across the United States and Canada attended the Agricultural Publications Summit, July 27-30, 2003, in Cleveland, Ohio.

World Agricultural Forum Creates NGO Advisory Council
The World Agricultural Forum (WAF) announced on March 6, 2003, the creation of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organizations) Advisory Council. The WAF used a $200,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to create the Advisory Council.

“In the food systems arena, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation wants to see a safe and wholesome food supply that supports economic viability and brings environmental benefits,” said Rick Foster, vice president of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “By providing this grant to the WAF, we are embracing its continuous efforts to bring together our world’s leaders to address critical agricultural issues. We look forward to the positive effect the WAF’s NGO Advisory Council will have on our society.”

For more about the NGO Advisory Council, including a list of its members, go to the World Agricultural Forum Web site at: http://www.worldagforum.org/ngo_council.html.

 

  
 


Announcements

Food and Society Policy Fellowship Announces New Class
The Food and Society Policy Fellows Program recently announced the members of its third class. They are: Curt Arens, Nebraska, crop and livestock producer; Ann Cooper, New York, head chef at The Ross School; Wylie Harris, Texas, cattle rancher; Mary Hendrickson, Missouri, rural sociologist at the University of Missouri; Rosalie Koenig, Florida, organic vegetable producer; Amanda Dew Manning, South Carolina, health administration expert at Manning & Associates, Inc.; La Donna Redmond, Illinois, community organizer at the Institute for Community Resource Development; and Jonathan Thomas, Pennsylvania, research consultant with the New England Small Farm Institute.

The Food and Society Fellows Program was launched in September 2001. The program’s mission is to educate consumers, opinion leaders and policymakers about the opportunities that community-based food systems enterprises offer to consumers, farmers, rural and urban communities and the environment.

These fellows join 23 fellows in classes one and two. They come from a wide array of backgrounds – including health, consumer education, aquaculture, local food policy, nutrition, sustainable agriculture and organic farming. The Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute administers the program in partnership with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, with primary support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

For more information on the program, visit the Web site: www.foodandsocietyfellows.org.

Seventh Annual CFSC Conference – Nov. 1-5, 2003
“Growing the Movement: New Opportunities and Challenges for Community Food Security” is the theme of the Seventh Annual Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) Conference, Nov. 1-5, 2003, at Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, Mass.

The conference provides an opportunity to connect with food activists and analysts to share experiences and learn from one another about building food systems that work for communities. The program includes field trips, short courses, workshops and excellent speakers.

CFSC is partnering with The Food Project to create a significant youth presence at the conference. This collaboration is part of The Food Project’s BLAST (Building Local Agricultural Systems Today) initiative. BLAST's mission is to develop a network of young leaders who will build and advocate for sustainable, community-based food systems. For more information contact Anim Steel at The Food Project: (781) 259-8621 ext. 22, or e-mail asteel@thefoodproject.org.

For a complete schedule of events for the conference and to register online, go to the Web site: http://www.foodsecurity.org/events.html. For more information, call the CFSC office at (310) 822-5410.

Future of Our Food and Farms Summit – Dec. 4-5, 2003
The Fifth Annual “Future of Our Food and Farms Summit” will be held Dec. 4-5, 2003, in the Wilmington Wyndham Hotel, Wilmington, Del. The Summit is being hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Food and Farm Coalition.

The opening plenary session will feature Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, and Carol Tucker Foreman, director, Consumer Federation of America Food Policy Institute (invited). The closing session will feature Michael Rozyne, managing director and founder of Red Tomato.

A new feature at this year’s summit will be two workshops/training sessions: “Youth Voices in Agriculture Workshop” with its theme: Working with Youth to Strengthen the Regional Food System; and, Minority Farmer Training sponsored by USDA CSREES.

Other sessions at the Summit include “Direct Marketing for Increasing Farm Profitability: Training for Trainers,” a “Hunger Congress,” and a “Nutrition Education Symposium” for nutrition educators.

For more information, visit: http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/fffconf/ or
www.foodfarm.org. Or, contact The Food Trust by phone at (215) 568-0830 x10, or by e-mail at contact@thefoodtrust.org.

  
 

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