UAC 2019 Winter Planning Retreat Summary
Members Come Together to Set Goals for 2019 and Beyond
Members of Louisville’s Urban Agriculture Coalition gathered recently for a planning retreat to set the coalition’s work plan for 2019 and beyond. The coalition formed in 2016 as a working group of the Food In Neighborhoods Community Coalition to bring together community members and organizations working on urban agriculture efforts throughout the city.
The day began by discussing what attendees liked about urban agriculture in Louisville and what they felt was missing.
Some of the LIKES included:
Low cost of community garden plots
The incorporation of cultural and ethnic foods
Many positive and supportive people that work in agriculture
Diversity! (people of color, socio-economic, etc.)
Equitable access to water for community gardens
Community ownership and leadership in community gardens
The group then went on to share their individual and organizational goals for 2019 to see where those goals would address any of the ‘What’s Missing’ previously shared. There were a lot of connections between the two! This really helped the group to understand who was already planning to address some of the issues and where there was more work to be done.
DATA COLLECTED FROM RETREAT
WELCOME ACTIVITY
Write out your own personal and, if relevant, your organizational goals for 2019 around Urban Agriculture
The UAC/FIN Connection
The Food in Neighborhoods Community Coalition (FIN) was formed around 2009 from a group of community members and organization representatives to support community efforts to build a just, healthy, and sustainable food system in Louisville, Kentucky. FIN became a food policy council under the city’s leadership and then in 2013, that council was dismantled, leaving FIN to pick up the pieces and try to regroup. The coalition continues to bring people together around its mission and is currently made up of 3 working groups: Policy, Urban Agriculture and Food Security. It meets for a quarterly meeting to hear from each working group and hear from folks about their current concerns.
The Urban Agriculture Coalition began meeting in November of 2016. At one of our initial meetings, we discussed linking up with FIN as a working group since our goals lined up with their goals. We have been a working group of FIN ever since and last year launched our website as part of their new website, foodinneighborhoods.org/grow.
INTRODUCTIONS
Rachel Brunner, resident of Louisville and Program Manager of Common Earth Gardens
Abby Rudolph, resident of Louisville studying creative writing and
Bethany Pratt, resident of Louisville and Horticulture agent with Jefferson County Cooperative Extension
Simon Cozzens, resident of Louisville and Urban Agriculture Assistant with Louisville Grows
Dave Frasher, resident of Louisville and volunteer with Extension
Virginia Callan, resident of Louisville
Brennan Callan, resident of Louisville
Leigh Whittinghill, Kentucky State University Assistant professor of Urban Agriculture
Justin Mog, resident of Louisville and University of Louisville Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Issues
Amanda Fuller, resident of Louisville and owner of Lots of Food urban farm
Ked Stanfield, resident of Louisville and Executive Director of Louisville Grows
Erin Hargrove, Program Manager at the Food Literacy Project
Jackson Dillon, resident of Louisville and owner of Dillon LLC
Lilias Pettit-Scott, resident of Louisville and Urban Agriculture Conservationist at Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District
LG Vista
Alicia Hullinger, Board member of the Louisville Sustainability Council
Compare likes/needs
What We Like About Urban Ag in Louisville
There is no unhealthy Limit
Connecting kids to how food grows
USDA Urban High Tunnel Initiative
Garden Tours to see other high tunnels
Cindy Fowler sharing information about free high tunnels
Low cost for community garden plots
Salvation Army Cooking program
Help from Lilias
Detailed Labels in grocery stores for what is in your food
The incorporation of cultural and ethnic foods
Variety of crops growing in gardens throughout the city
The diversity of people who participate
New energy being focused on this topic
Not sure
People who live and work in agriculture…many positive and supportive people
The connection of people to healthy food! And getting their hands dirty
Safe food
Number of community gardens
Foraging!
Beekeeping
Information for community participation
Immigrant/Refugee Gardens
International vegetables growing!
Agriculture is undoubtedly a part of human nature
Every garden is a totally unique and creative space
Refugee programs
All the interest in gardening and local foods
Core group of people who are dedicated to more urban ag.
Increased availability of farmers markets, especially double dollars for SNAP
Freedom that urban gardening provides in community that otherwise feel imprisoned in many paradigms
What Is Missing About Urban Ag in Louisville
City-Wide Composting
Not Sure
Broad representation, better communication of diverse communities
Diversity! (socio-economic, people of color, etc.)
The education/teaching aspect of agriculture to individuals/groups in the community
Equitable access to water for gardens
Community ownership, leadership in community gardens
Shared Tool Resources
Connectivity with other related groups and continued relationships with existing projects and the communities they are meant to serve
Streams/forests cleanup
Finding collaborators for farm projects
Ways to use high tunnel harvests
Vacant land should be converted to edible gardens
Anyone to help in garden
More resources for backyard gardeners
The lack of integration of groups promoting urban agriculture into the lives of community members
Opportunities to grow year-round!
Insurance policies for community gardens so that they can be owned by communities
An abundance of backyard chickens
More collaboration with city about vacant property
More compost
Affordable water for community gardens
Increased visibility of urban ag (and increased resources for apartment dwellers- gardens, composting, etc.)
More leadership at our community gardens
More integration of diverse groups in meetings/events
More cooperation between UK, KSU, UL and local urban ag groups
Youth and POC in our conversations
Teaching gardens at every school
We need more gardens and markets
Tools for connecting those that want land with those that have extra (e.g. urbangardenshare.org)
Reality Check
We reviewed the Comprehensive Plan 2040, 2016 Sustain Louisville progress Report, 2017 Health Equity Report, Jefferson County Cooperative Extension’s Plan of Work, 2018 Farm Bill, Preliminary Resilience Assessment, and the Hunger Innovation Fellowship’s data
Drew connections between goals for UAC and priorities identified in the reports and plans
Set Goals for 2019 for UAC – Goal Clouds
COMPOST (1)
Missing: City-Wide Composting (USDA) (1)
Missing: More Compost (USDA)
Goal: Use Extra Compost!
Goal: Research and Advocate around Compost Laws
Goal: Find/Make More Compost (1)
Goal: To Restart Post-consumer Organic Collection for Composting at Several UofL Locations, Dorms, SAC, Ekstrom (Sustain Louisville)
EDUCATION (5) (Survey, UKY, Sustain Louisville)
Missing: Opportunities to grow year-round
Missing: More resources for backyard gardeners
Missing: The education/teaching aspect of agriculture to individuals/groups in the community
Goal: Coalition Garden (USDA)
Goal: Piloting Backyard Garden Program
Goal: Provide Resources for full-season support for first-time backyard gardeners (1) (Sustain Louisville, UKY)
Goal: Increase capacity for Urban High Tunnel Recipients to Produce Food from Fall to Spring
Goal: More KSU programming in urban agriculture (USDA)
Goal: Deal with inchworm issues
Goal: How-To Festival (1)
Goal: Restore UofL’s Greenhouse and hydroponics system to full functionality! (USDA)
PRODUCTION (CRF, Survey)
Missing: An abundance of backyard chickens
Goal: Garden for the first time without using a large yard
Goal: Make more pollinator gardens (UKY, Sustain Louisville)
Goal: Grow more herbs
Goal: Personal subsistence gardening and advocating for more food, fewer lawns
Goal: Start our own plants (gardeners choice) for spring. (How to find seeds for international vegetables?)
TREES/ORCHARDS
Goal: Orchard Brigade – community prungin sweep
Goal: Orchard Brigade – support, educate, orchard help (Sustain Louisville)
Goal: Tree variety list for community orchards
Goal: To finally prune our hardy kiwi properly and get some fruit!
Goal: Care of Portland Orchard Project (Sustain Louisville)
POLICY (1) (Survey)
Missing: More collaboration with city about vacant property (1) (Vacant Property)
Goal: Adopt a zero-waste gardening and produce policy (Sustain Louisville)
Goal: Gain real buy-in from Louisville Metro to support urban agriculture (4) (CRF, Community Forum #26)
Goal: Convince everyone soil will change your life, gardens and our environment
Goal: Incorporate climate change and energy in to UAC (2) (Sustain Louisville, CRF)
Goal: Support clean transportation, mitigate urban heat island, reduce flooding, increase safety
STORYTELLING (communication) (3)
Missing: Increased visibility of urban agriculture (and increased resources for apartment dwellers
Goal: More art in the children’s garden at Americana
Goal: More storytelling! (UKY)
Goal: Empowering story telling of growers (particularly the international community)
Goal: To get more urban ag topics on forward radio (including a show on the Farm Bill!)
Goal: KSU urban ag blog or official social media presence
Goal: Movie series at SPeed Museum – climate activism related
Goal: Characterization of what urban ag looks like in Kentucky
Goal: Urban Farm Films and a central site for films
LAND ACCESS (2) (Community Forum #24 and 26, Survey)
Missing: Vacant Land should be converted
Missing: We need more gardens and Markets (CRF)
Missing: Tools for connecting those who want land with those who have extra (e.g. urbangardenshare.org)
Goal: Community Land Trust (1)
