Montgomery County Food Council

Food security - Food recovery and access working group (frawg) meetings continued to operate as regular Food security community calls in 2022. The Food Council's monthly Food security community calls bring together a wide variety of stakeholders who serve residents experiencing Food insecurity, including Food assistance providers, local and state government agencies, the public school system, advocacy organizations, and other community partners. These meetings create a space for the Food security community to learn about different available resources and to form partnerships so as to increase their capacity to meet resident needs. The Food Council has continued to engage a Food security community advisory board (fscab), in continuation of implementation of the County's Food security plan. The 2022 fscab cohort consisted of 15 members who developed advocacy plans focusing on a variety of Food insecurity topics such as Food insecurity and health outcomes, expansion of snap access, transportation issues that affect Food access, and Food insecurity in higher education.

General programs - community-wide education, advocacy, and capacity-building initiatives focused on the Food system elements holistically in order to cultivate a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable local Food system in Montgomery County.

Food economy - the 2022 Food and beverage guide was published in january 2022 as a printed guide and also as an online searchable guide on the Food Council's website. It features 73 businesses in total, of which 27 are women-owned and 24 are minority-owned. We further promoted our moco made Food and beverage businesses with a 2022 moco made holiday gift guide, a bipoc-owned moco made businesses guide, an online woman-owned moco made business guide, and an aapi-owned business spotlight. We also launched the moco Food map, an interactive, searchable map that can be used with gps to locate 360+ Montgomery county-based international retailers, stores that carry local Food, farm stores, and farmers markets, as well as Food businesses and their contact information. We provided virtual and in-person networking events to County businesses, including a moco made Food and beverage expo, which welcomed over 200 local Food professionals and enthusiasts, including three County Council offices represented and the County executive, buyers from 28 retailers, 38 Food business professionals, and general admission members of the public. Additionally, we led a Food systems infrastructure opportunities initiative to build interest and support for a local Food aggregation and distribution facility project.

Food education - in 2022, the Food education working group (fedwg) featured speakers from Montgomery County public schools' department of Food and nutrition services; discussed policy developments related to healthy restaurant children's meal and free school meals; launched a three-part series focused on Food is medicine; invited speakers from the County department of health and human services to discuss their new coalition on chronic disease management; and reviewed the Montgomery County community health needs assessment. The Food Council continued convening a gardening subcommittee in 2022 as a community of practice for gardening stakeholders to get in touch with each other about best practices and network about gardening opportunities.

Policy - the Montgomery County Food Council is an active participant in urban and rural policy and process change. Our advocacy efforts lead the way to a more healthful and sustainable community by bringing together a diversity of nonprofit and community based organizations, businesses, government agencies, and residents in a coordinated effort to address the broad range of Food system-related issues in our region. Our policy initiatives are led by our policy committee, which considers issues and facilitates the decision-making and establishment of policy positions on behalf of the Food Council. This standing committee is entrusted to make decisions that will represent the mission and vision of the Montgomery County Food Council on public policy issues that influence the Montgomery County Food system. In 2022, the Food Council launched its first policy and advocacy newsletter, which provided weekly updates on the 2022 legislative session, and we refined our 2022 policy tracker to more transparently convey the Food Council's actions related to bills, testimony and positions.

Food Council - the Food Council annually selects candidates to serve two-year terms on the 25-member Montgomery County Food Council. Food Council members serve in a volunteer capacity to guide the work of our four working groups and policy committee, serving as subject matter experts and representatives of the Food Council's work in the community. Ideal Food Council members live, work, or have a strong investment in Montgomery County and have the capacity to bring their specific expertise, community relationships, and/or resources to support the Food Council's initiatives. Food Council members also bring in expertise in local food-related issues and represent a Food system sector or community stakeholder partner. 2022 Food Council members attended bi-monthly internal Council meetings and monthly working group or committee meetings.

Environmental impact - the environmental impact working group (eiwg) hosted a capstone presentation on their 2022 collaborative initiative to understand the current policy, programmatic, and investment landscape in our County related to climate change and Food systems issues. The symposium showcased findings and launched action priorities to increase local Food production, prevent Food waste, and expand composting capacity in our community. Throughout 2022, the Food Council participated on the Montgomery County department of environmental protection's edible Food recovery workgroup, shaping a legislative proposal to increase edible Food recovery in our County. This work will simultaneously fight climate change by reducing Food waste as well as increase Food security by connecting valuable Food to residents in need of assistance.