REMARKS
Council Member Amanda Farías opens hearing on urban agriculture and food access
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4 min
Council Member Amanda Farías opens the New York City Council hearing of the Committee on Economic Development, focusing on citywide access to fresh produce and Introduction 693. She outlines the purpose of the hearing, which is to examine the effectiveness of city agencies in addressing food insecurity and promoting urban agriculture initiatives.
- Farías highlights the progress and challenges in expanding access to fresh, healthy food since the establishment of the Office of Urban Agriculture.
- She discusses various initiatives, including Health Bucks, Farm to School program, and the Good Food Purchasing Program.
- The council member introduces Introduction 693, which would require a plan to convert unused industrial areas into urban agriculture sites.
Amanda Farías
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Good morning, and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing of the Committee on Economic Development.
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Today is November 14, 2024.
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My name is Amanda Farias, and I have the privilege of chairing this committee.
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I would like to thank the members of the committee and the administration for joining us today for this important hearing on citywide access to fresh produce and introduction 693, sponsored by council member Sandy Nurse, which
Alex Paulenoff
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would require the Office of Urban Agriculture to create and implement a
Amanda Farías
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plan to convert unused agricultural sites.
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Nearly 1.6 New Yorkers face food insecurity,
Alex Paulenoff
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and many neighborhoods continue
Amanda Farías
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to lack adequate access to fresh, healthy food.
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This is simply unacceptable.
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The purpose of today's hearing is to examine how effectively our city agencies are working to address these challenges, particularly through urban agricultural initiatives at the mayor's office of food policy and the newly established office of urban agriculture.
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Since the council passed local laws 121 and 123 in 2021, establishing the mayor's office of urban agriculture, we have seen both progress and continuing challenges in expanding access to fresh, healthy food across our city.
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This progress was documented last October when the office of urban agriculture released its first annual report, cultivating urban agriculture in New York City, which outlined 7 key priorities and numerous initiatives to promote innovation and improve urban agricultural food production.
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Today, we are particularly interested in in examining the Office of Urban Agriculture's progress on these priorities.
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According to its report, the office has begun important work to identify underutilized municipal lands for urban agriculture, including a feasibility study targeting East New York.
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The office has also launched initiatives to support emerging urban agriculture entrepreneurs, including an MWBE training and certification program that has already provided technical assistance to over 20 businesses.
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We also want to understand how the mayor's Office of Food Policy is coordinating with other agencies to implement critical food initiatives like Health Bucks, which provides essential support for New Yorkers to purchase fresh produce at farmers markets, and new initiatives like the Farm to School program, which recently received $200,000 in state and federal grants.
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We'll also explore how the Office of Urban Agriculture is working to identify and develop new growing spaces while supporting the city's over 700 existing urban farms and gardens.
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Furthermore, we want to understand how both offices are coordinating with other city agencies to implement initiatives like the Good Good Food Purchasing Program.
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This program promotes 5 core values that we believe are essential to building a more equitable food system, supporting local economies, ensuring environmental sustainability, protecting our workforce, promoting animal welfare, and improving nutrition.
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These values align closely with our city's broader goals for food equity, and we look forward to hearing from both offices on how those values are being promoted across the city.
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Additionally, we would like to assess the Office of Urban Agriculture's progress on the 7 key priorities outlined in its report last year and understand what additional support the office may need from the council to achieve its goals.
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Finally, we will consider introduction 693 today, sponsored again by council member Sandy Nurse, which would require the mayor's office of urban agriculture to create a comprehensive plan for converting unused and underutilized industrial areas across all 5 boroughs into urban agriculture sites.
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This plan would need to address several critical issues, including environmental protection strategies, incentive programs for local community organizations, and MWBEs, and partnerships for food distribution to low income communities.
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This legislation represents an important step towards expanding our city's capacity for local food production, while promoting economic development and environmental sustainability.
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Before we begin, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the Economic Development Committee staff, senior counsel Alex Polinoff, senior policy analyst William Hongach, and finance analyst Glenn Marcellone, for their hard work in preparing for this hearing.
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I will also like to acknowledge you've been joined by council members, Wacher, Riley and Aviles, and council member Nurse.
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And before we turn it over to committee council, I'm just gonna give council member nurse a moment, to say a few words about her introduction 693.
