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 2012 Multnomah Food Summit morning highlights!

Office of Sustainability Receives Farmworker Housing Development Corporation Award!

The Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC) recognized Multnomah County's Office of Sustainability as their 2012 Partner of the Year at the Harvesting Hope event on June 14th. FHDC was founded in 1990 to develop and provide affordable housing for one of our nation's most vulnerable populations - farmworkers. FHDC representatives have served on the steering and planning committees for the Multnomah Food Initiative since it's inception in 2009. Often the role and contribution of farmworkers is left out of the discussions involving our food system. The Multnomah Food Initiative and Action Plan gives the farmworker community a voice in creating a local, healthy, equitable and regionally prosperous food system. The FHDC has been instrumental in furthering social equity in the food system and the Sustainability Office was honored to receive their annual award.

Click above to download the 2012 Multnomah Food Summit packet.

 Remarks by County Chair Jeff Cogen 

Social responsibility has been a guiding ethic in Chair Cogen’s professional life. He founded the Portland Pretzel Company and built strong relationships with local vendors. The Portland Pretzel Company was the first certified organic bakery in Portland and when the time came to hire full-time employees, Jeff made sure the company paid for their health care.

Jeff was elected to the Multnomah County Board in November 2006 for a four-year term. In 2010, he won election to a four-year term as county Chair. At the county, Jeff has racked up a list of successful initiatives. These include a new library in North Portland’s Kenton neighborhood, long overdue reforms to the Business Income Tax, growing fresh food for the Oregon Food Bank on surplus county land, and crucial efforts to support returning veterans. Jeff has displayed vision and hands-on leadership in areas such as sustainability, diversity and equity, and government reform.

Keynote by Rev. Dr. W. G. Hardy, Jr.

A native of Portland, Pastor Hardy has been senior Pastor at Highland United Church of Christ since 1996.  He is a locally and nationally recognized public health champion, working to reduce health disparities in the African and African American communities. Under his leadership, a coalition of 35 urban multi-faith leaders have come together to stem rising rates of chronic disease and obesity. The coalition recently adopted food and wellness policies, impacting over 60,000 community members. 

Prior to entering full time ministry, Dr. Hardy served four years in the United States Navy and worked as an Engineering & Training Supervisor for Tri-Met Light Rail.  Pastor Hardy is an ordained minister with triple standing, and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Mt. Carmel Theological Seminary in Fresno, California.  He has received numerous awards for his varied contributions including; the 2004 NAACP Man of the Year Award, and the lifetime Achievement Award from the World Arts Foundation, a Portland-based organization whose mission is to promote and preserve African-American contributions to American culture. Pastor Hardy founded Highland Haven, which serves and advocates for distressed communities in North/Northeast Portland through nine different social service programs. 

 Summit Agenda and Worksessions available here

Organizational Supporters Map 

The Multnomah Food Action Plan serves as a strategic document for our community to collaborate, plan and invest wisely on food system goals and actions. To make sure our food community stays connected we've mapped our organizational supporters in an interactive way. Each dot represents an organization, mapped to it’s primary business location, and the colors correspond with the different pillars of the Multnomah Food Action Plan. Each color is proportional to the number of commitments an organization has made in that pillar area. All information for this visualization was self reported. You can sign the Declaration of Support or update your commitments here.

Click the images to download the Plan and Executive Summary; and sign the online Declaration of Support

Support the Multnomah Food Action Plan by signing the Declaration of Support!

See who else supports the plan by viewing our supporters list!

The Multnomah Food Initiative started as an innovative community partnership to develop a shared food system vision, goals, and an action plan that will promote issues of health, social justice, economic vitality, and sustainability within our regional food system.The Multnomah Food Action Plan presents an opportunity for our community to collaborate, plan and invest wisely on community-prioritized goals and actions.