[BoulderCouncilHotline] Re: Agroecology and the Center for Good Food Purchasing

[Brautigam, Jane]

Dear Sam,
Thanks for sending this information. The articles about agroecology and the Center for Good Food Purchasing, which promotes purchasing policies that value local economies, health, valued workforce, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability, are well aligned with several city goals. While the city is not involved with the Center nor does it have a specific food procurement policy, we are certainly moving in that direction in many ways.
BVSD is indeed deserving for its recognition. The award-winning BVSD program is based Chef Ann’s food services which serves tens of thousands of meals to children during the school year. In contrast, the city of Boulder's food purchases are dramatically smaller, decentralized and generally fall into two categories:
•      Catering for department, citywide or city council meetings, often coordinated by various administrative personnel. these purchases are declining due to budgetary limitations.

•      Contracting with a variety of vendors to manage vending machines in city facilities. Some of these machines, such as the one in the Municipal Building and in Parks and Recreation facilities, were specifically chosen because they offer “healthier” choices.

While these food purchases remain small and decentralized, the city has nonetheless taken incremental steps toward meeting many of the goals identified by the Center. For example, in 2015 the city issued “Healthy Food and Beverages for Employee Meetings & Events<https://work-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/Healthy_Food_and_Beverages_for_Employee_Meetings_Handout-1-201603291555.pdf>” guidelines to all employees to encourage healthy options to be made available when food and beverages are provided to employees within city facilities, especially during the occasions when city funds are used to fund those purchases. The city also circulated a list of vending machine operators who prioritized healthy snacks and encouraged each facility manager to consider using them at their site. Around this same time, council also began a six-month pilot program to choose vendors for council meals that sourced most of their meals locally. Although that pilot has ended, the City Clerk’s office continues to rely on the same list of caterers used during the pilot. This is consistent with the city’s efforts to encourage local food production and consumption<https://bouldercolorado.gov/policy-advisor/local-foods>. More recently, the city’s Environmental Advisory Board adopted an unwritten policy to have vegetarian meals only and suggested that other city boards do the same. Finally, the city’s Climate + Sustainability Division is working to update a city “Sustainability Purchasing Policy” for all departments. In its current form, the purchasing policy does not include food or other guidelines related to purchases for meetings, but its latest iteration (in draft form, expected to be finalized this year) will include guidelines for zero waste catering, recommendations for no bottled water use and healthy food choices.

I hope this answers your questions, Sam. Please let me know if you have any further questions on this matter.

Jane



Jane S. Brautigam

City Manager

ICMA - CM



[cid:a45fcadc-e71e-4a74-b818-370020389afa]

O: 303-441-3090

brautigamj at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:brautigamj at bouldercolorado.gov>



City Manager’s Office

1777 Broadway

Boulder, CO 80302

Bouldercolorado.gov<http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>






________________________________
From: Weaver, Sam
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 7:47:12 AM
To: Brautigam, Jane; HOTLINE
Subject: Agroecology and the Center for Good Food Purchasing


Jane, fellow Council Members, and HOTLINE followers,



I was reading a very interesting piece in the New York Times about agroecology and the international movement towards soil health and food production methods that are less chemically dependent:



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/opinion/farming-organic-nature-movement.html



As part of the article, an organization is featured which promotes healthy and sustainable food procurement practices by institutions such as cities and school districts, called the Center for Good Food Purchasing: https://goodfoodpurchasing.org/



When I clicked through to their website, I was extremely proud to see that the Boulder Valley School District is not only an active participant in this movement, but has earned the first 5-star rating from the Center ever awarded: https://goodfoodpurchasing.org/lunchroom-leadership-in-boulder-valley-first-ever-5-star-rating-awarded/



This is fantastic news, and a testament to the dedication and focus that BVSD brings to educating its students, including providing healthy sustenance along the way.



My question to you and staff: is the City of Boulder involved with this Center and its mission in any way?  Many cities are coming on board such as Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Twin Cities, and others.  It would not surprise me to learn that the City is already involved, but if not I wanted to encourage our staff to look into this alliance for healthy and sustainable agroecology.  Our institutional purchasing power is one of the tools we can bring to bring to bear in this arena, so I wanted to check in and see about any involvement Boulder has with this Center and its practices.



All the best,



Sam Weaver

Member of Boulder City Council

weavers at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:weavers at bouldercolorado.gov>

Phone: 303-416-6130


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