By Crystal Swann and Laura DeKoven Waxman
April 30, 2012

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Chair of the Conference of Mayors Food Policy Task Force, hosted nine other mayors and as many mayors’ food policy advisors for a task force meeting April 18 and 19 in Boston. While most of the meeting focused on efforts under way in cities to grow the local food system to increase access to healthy food and create jobs, considerable attention was paid to the House Agriculture Committee’s $33 billion cut in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which occurred just hours before the meeting began.

Menino termed the cut "a wrongheaded action by Washington officials who want to worsen the already unacceptable levels of hunger and poverty across America" and urged "every mayor and every person who cares about families struggling to put food on the table (to) speak out." A statement released the next day by Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran is at right.

Task Force Vice Chair Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake described her city’s efforts to attract grocery stores to food deserts, which she described as a serious problem in Baltimore. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras discussed strategies his city is employing to augment access to healthy food in low income communities. He said that the biggest challenge their efforts face is community education, making sure people know what opportunities are available to them. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard described his city’s efforts to leverage food networks to increase access to healthy foods, and the goal he has set to have no hungry child in Indianapolis by 2015. Menino outlined Boston’s food retail strategies to create jobs and revitalize communities. He described how he attracted 36 supermarkets – at least one per neighborhood – to Boston by convincing retailers that there was sufficient disposable income to be worth the investment.

Other mayors participating in the meeting were Henrietta Davis of Cambridge (MA), Rodney Grogan of Patterson (LA), Susan Kay of Weymouth (MA), Paul Soglin of Madison (WI), Setti Warren of Newton (MA), and Miro Weinberger of Burlington (VT).

Joining the mayors was Maine Representative Chellie Pingree, who for several years was an organic farmer who sold her produce locally. Pingree has introduced legislation – the Local Farms, Food, and Jobs Act (H.R. 3286) – to support local food systems and increase access to healthy foods. She described her bill during her April 18 remarks to the Task Force. Menino encouraged the mayors to contact their delegations to ask them to support of the bill. A companion bill, S. 1773, has been introduced in the Senate by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.

Also joining the mayors were several federal officials who discussed resources their agencies provide that can be used locally to support healthy food access: Joani Walsh, Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the Agriculture Department; Robert Ibanez, New Market Tax Credit Program Manager, at the Treasury Department; and Mary Ann Higgins, Regional Administrator for the Administration for Children and Families at the Health and Human Services Department.

Saying, "Mayors need to talk about the farm bill," Menino led a discussion that highlighted why the farm bill is important to cities, most significantly because of the funding it contributes to the local economy. He reported that over five years it has provided $800 million to Boston, with 90 percent of this coming from SNAP benefits. He highlighted the impact this money has had on local grocery revenues, and said that it has resulted in over 3,000 local jobs. Among farm bill policy issues discussed were maintaining adequate SNAP benefits, increasing the value of SNAP benefits in farmers markets, and increasing access to healthy foods. Menino instructed Conference of Mayors staff to assist the Task Force in preparing a resolution for consideration during the organization’s upcoming annual meeting, scheduled for June 13-16 in Orlando.

Following the working sessions, Menino took the mayors and other participants on a city tour of food businesses and organizations, ending up at the Sam Adams Brewery, Crop Circle Kitchen, a shared-use kitchen and culinary business incubator founded in 2009, which supports about 25 culinary entrepreneurs and their growing businesses, and Bella Luna Restaurant, where they had a lunch prepared by several of the businesses operating out of Crop Circle Kitchen.