The Laredo Food Policy Council (LFPC) – under auspices of the Laredo Center for Agriculture and Sustainability (LCUAS), presents “Food Town: Laredo, TX,” a symposium to provide an introduction to what food means to a community on a social, economic, and political level.
The two-day event begins Wednesday, March 17, at 6 p.m. at the Joe A. Guerra Laredo Public Library Multipurpose Room with a welcome from Mayor Victor Treviño.
The symposium’s keynote speaker, author Mark Winne, follows at 7 p.m. with a presentation that focuses on how large a part food is of a city’s identity and how a “food movement” can transform a perception of place and an economy.
Winne is the author of Food Town, USA.
The symposium resumes Thursday, May 18, at 9 a.m. Addie Stone and Jessie Barber – authors of the recently published Texas Food Access Study – will offer a Food Access Panel Discussion. Their study, which was requested by the Texas Department of Agriculture, is a comprehensive look at food insecurity in Texas.
The study addresses what is defined as “lack of access” to grocery stores, produce, and healthy foods; the major barriers to access; and the best strategies for removing those barriers.
The report summarizes what was learned over the course of the study and about the causes and potential solutions to food access issues in the state of Texas.
Their discussion will be followed by the Future of Food Workshop, which will have food system stakeholders at designated roundtables specific to one of the six sectors of the Food System Wheel. Those sectors are Production; Processing and Packaging; Distribution and Retail; Access to Nutrition; Consumption; and Waste. Participants will collaborate in drawing out the future of a sustainable, healthy, prosperous food future for Laredo.
The workshop concludes at 12:30 p.m.
An exhibit on the “Future of Food in Laredo,” which begins at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, will showcase the burgeoning food production businesses and organizations that represent the local food system.
Members of the Laredo Food Policy Council are Laredo Health Department, South Texas Food Bank, Bethany House, Palo Blanco Farm and Ranch, Gateway Community Health Center, Laredo Community Fridge, RGISC, Laredo College, United ISD, LISD, Laredo Regional Food Bank, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, TAMIU, Frontera Co-op, Tabernilla, and Laredo Main Street.
Coordinators for the symposium are architect Viviana Frank and Sabrina López of City Makery.
Frank recognized the invaluable support of the AEP Foundation in staging the first local workshop on the future of food in Laredo.
Members of the event committee are Eliseo Ceja and Jaime Perez, City of Laredo Public Health; David K. Vasquez, Gateway Community Health Center; José Luis Moreno, LCUAS; Nydia Robles, Laredo Main Street; Mayra Hernandez, TAMIU Student Conduct Management; and City Makery.
SIDEBAR
From 1979 to 2003, Mark Winne was the Executive Director of the Hartford Food System, a Connecticut non-profit food organization. He is the co-founder of numerous organizations including the Community Food Security Coalition, the State of Connecticut Food Policy Council, and the City of Santa Fe Food Policy Council.
He was a Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Fellow, and a member of the U.S. Delegation to the 2000 Rome Conference on Food Security.
As a writer on food issues, Mark’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Nation, Sierra, Orion, and Yes!, to name a few. He is the author of four books – Closing the Food Gap, Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart Cookin’Mamas, and Stand Together or Starve Alone, and most recently, Food Town USA.
Through his own firm, Mark Winne Associates, Mark speaks, trains, and writes on topics related to community food systems, food policy, and food security. He also serves as Senior Advisor to the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
