This past weekend's very successful Eat Real Festival was a fun time as well as a showcase of healthy and sustainable trends in the food industry. Just a few blocks North, the Chinatown Streetfest celebrated Asian cultures with dancing, crafts, and, of course, great food. Also a few blocks from Eat Real you can find Everett & Jones BBQ and Souley Vegan, both offering fresh takes on uniquely American cuisine. Recently Oakland's popular restaurant scene has attracted national attention, and is a leading economic indicator for revitalization. Food is an expression of Oakland's cultures and a way to cement social bonds, and food can be a way for the City to promote community health and the economy.

When we ask how local government affects food, we have to remember that food is a basic necessity. All Oaklanders must have access to healthy nutritional choices. Food processing is also a large part of Oakland's industrial heritage. A restoration of Oakland's historic role as a center for food production and manufacturing has already begun with companies like Numi Tea, and with an effective industrial policy we can expand jobs and economic opportunity in this growing sector. Creating a sound food policy can promote public health, and build Oakland's Renaissance as a prosperous community with a rich culture. Eliminating bureaucratic barriers for food businesses, both retail and production, will encourage economic growth as well as greater food access. I led the reduction of red tape for restaurants, cafes, and other retailers during the Downtown zoning update, and helped food businesses navigate the bureaucracy. Investments in our industrial infrastructure and actively recruiting food businesses are the steps toward fully revitalizing this part of our economy.

Restaurants and food manufacturing are target industries for future business, job, and tax-base growth, in addition to a few other growth sectors. To expand the local food industry and provide job and entrepreneurial opportunities to Oaklanders, the City must implement targeted recruitment strategies:

• Increase number of mobile food vending permits and expand the permitted areas to include more parts of Oakland
• Work with industry leaders and entrepreneurs to locate and expand business
• Identify key opportunity sites and improve needed infrastructure
• Expand agriculture and nurseries in Oakland by improving and updating zoning for agriculture
• Cut red tape for restaurants and grocery stores throughout Oakland

Making food a priority at the top of City government and through our partnership with other agencies can dramatically improve public health. Too many Oaklanders do not have convenient, affordable access to nutritious food and expanding community gardens, adding grocery stores, and improving transportation, will promote healthy living. Specifically, City government can:

• Support for-profit and non-profit food distribution networks with logistical assistance and convene a food distributor roundtable to find synergies
• Support permaculture, organics, and farmers' markets
• Using all available tools to recruit and allow groceries in underserved neighborhoods
• Work with the Neighborhood Law Corps to include healthy food access as part of settlements with liquor stores
• Collaborate with OUSD to ensure that students have access to healthy food
• Implement recommendations of the Oakland Food Policy Council

FOOD AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Food and agriculture can be a part of a greener Oakland, from reducing transportation emissions to restoring blighted and polluted land. Pioneering local organizations like People’s Grocery and City Slicker Farms have created the distribution networks to productively grow food in urban spaces. City planning can allow gardening on underutilized sites and develop guidelines for urban agriculture. Improving the City’s environment will create a more beautiful and healthy community by taking the following food-related actions:

• Expanding efforts to collect food waste and grease waste from area food businesses to convert it into biofuel
• Improving our efforts to collect waste grease will also have another positive benefit of keeping it out of the wastewater stream
• Explore planting fruiting trees in new places
• Expand opportunities for community gardens, including using City property
• Encourage greenhouses and raised planting beds

The next Mayor of Oakland enjoys the unique opportunity to support the flowering of our growing food industry and culture, and can reverse decades of disinvestment to bring access to healthy nutrition and recreation to underserved neighborhoods. From renegotiating the City garbage contract to reforming the mobile food ordinance, bringing smart food priorities to City Hall can greatly improve public health, the economy, and our daily lives.

Rebecca Kaplan is Oakland's City Council Member At-Large and a candidate for Mayor of Oakland. Read more about her positions at www.KaplanForMayor.org.

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