DATE: October 25, 2022
TO: Mayor and Council Members
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: Hayward Food Action Plan: Provide Input on the Hayward Food Action Plan Scope and Timeline
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council provides input on the Hayward Food Action Plan scope and timeline.
SUMMARY
Council has consistently identified food access, food careers, and entrepreneurship as key priorities of the City. At the January 29, 2022 Strategic Roadmap Planning session, Council ranked “exploring funding opportunities to increase the circular food economy in Hayward” as one of the highest priority items.
During the City’s involvement in food distribution amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and educational partners expressed the need for a coherent community-led plan around food insecurity and career pathways. Subsequently, the Stupski Foundation awarded the City a grant to convene community stakeholders and create the Hayward Food Action Plan, which Council authorized on October 11, 2022. The purpose of this work session is to share some initial findings from partner interviews and receive Council’s initial input on the framework for the Hayward Food Action Plan.
Over a five-month planning process, staff will work with over 30 community leaders and partners to produce a set of community-informed priorities. The goal of the Hayward Food Action Plan is to help Hayward’s non-profit and educational partners build a network across the City and develop a list of tangible action steps to close service gaps in Hayward. The plan can then be used to approach funders. Staff will present the completed Hayward Food Action Plan to Council in the spring of 2023.
BACKGROUND
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City partnered with several organizations to tackle the drastic increase in residents facing food insecurity in Hayward. In partnership with Chabot Community College and the Hayward Recreation and Park District, the City launched and staffed a food distribution site that distributed over 1,701,432 pounds of food to 179,700 people in under two years of operations. Throughout these efforts, CBOs and educational partners expressed the need for a more coherent community-led plan around food access and the need for capacity building. Despite this desire for collective planning, Hayward does not have an obvious CBO with the capacity or mission to lead this planning effort.
On October 19, 2021, Council adopted a resolution to join Alameda County’s ALL IN Eats partnership. The purpose of ALL IN is to provide leadership, innovation, and collaboration across public, private, and community sectors to address the root causes of poverty. Since joining, staff from the City Manager’s Office has been attending the monthly steering committee and working group meetings.
At the January 29, 2022 Strategic Roadmap Planning session, Council ranked their top priority projects. Council ranked the project to “explore funding opportunities to increase the circular food economy in Hayward” as one of the highest priority items.
Subsequently, the Stupski Foundation awarded the City $125,000 to convene community partners and develop a community-informed Hayward Food Action Plan. On October 11, 2022, Council authorized the City Manager to accept and appropriate $125,000 in Grant Funding from the Stupski Foundation for the Hayward Food, Agriculture, and Economy Plan.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this work session is to share some initial findings from partner interviews and hear Council’s initial input on the framework for the Hayward Food Action Plan.
City’s Role in the Planning Process
Historically, Alameda County Social Services, in partnership with the Alameda County Food Bank, has been the lead on addressing food insecurity. In addition, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has funded the bulk of the regional work to grow a circular food economy. The Hayward Food Action Plan will build on existing County efforts and assess the specific needs of Hayward residents and the existing capacities of Hayward-based services providers.
The City’s role in this plan is primarily to be the convener of local partners. The goal of the Hayward Food Action Plan is to help Hayward’s non-profit and educational partners develop a list of action steps to close services gaps in Hayward. These mutually-agreed-upon action steps can then be used to approach funders. In some cases, such as economic development activities, it may make sense for the City to participate in implementation. However, in many cases, partners will take the lead on implementation.
Partners
To instigate the planning process, staff met individually with over 30 community leaders, organizations, and service providers to gauge their needs and interest in participating in a Hayward-specific food action plan.
Partners that expressed interest in being part of the planning committee for this effort include: 4Cs, Alameda County Community Food Bank (AFFCB), Cal State East Bay, Centro Community Partners, Chabot College, Deputy Sheriffs' Activities League (Dig Deep Farms), Downtown Streets Team, Eden Area Food Alliance, Eden ROP, Eden United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church of Hayward/South Hayward Parish, ForestR.org, Glad Tidings, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, Hayward Community Gardeners, Hayward Library Staff, Hayward Environmental Services staff, Hayward Promise Neighborhoods (HPN), Hayward Unified School District/Tennyson High School, Humanity for 100K Trees, the Pop-Up Guide, StopWaste, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, and UC Cooperative Extension and Nutrition staff.
Through staff’s interviews with partner agencies, staff identified the following four categories that will serve as the framework for the Hayward Food Action Plan:
Food Access & Security
Career Pathways & Entrepreneurship
Food Recovery
Culture, Heritage, and Community Wellness
Food Access & Security: Initial Findings from Partner Interviews (The lists below are initial findings and are not intended to be comprehensive.) Data on Needs
Food Insecurity: In a 2017 study from the Urban Institute, food insecurity in Hayward ranged from 2-15% depending on census tract, and marginal food insecurity ranged from 4-12%. This compares to 12.2% and 8% Countywide. Marginally food insecure means the person is food insecure some of the time or on the cusp of becoming food insecure. Due to the high number of marginally food insecure residents, this study flagged Hayward in 2017 as an area at risk of more residents becoming food insecure as housing prices increased.
Food Insecurity in South Hayward: In the COVID Community Survey Report produced by Hayward Promise Neighborhoods in 2021, 61% of South Hayward families who took the survey identified securing enough food to feed their families as their biggest need.
Student Food Insecurity: In a 2016 survey of Cal State East Bay students, 69.1% of students reported food insecurity, of those 26.5% experienced very low food security, 23.6% experienced low food security, and 19% reported marginal food security. Other educational institutions have echoed this high level of need.
CalFresh: According to Alameda County Social Services, 19,370 Hayward residents were on CalFresh in August 2022. This is 12.1% of Hayward residents, compared to 9.7% Countywide. Hayward has the third highest percentage of residents on CalFresh in the County, behind Oakland and San Leandro. The average cost of a low-income meal in Alameda County ($2.82) is 52% higher than the maximum CalFresh benefit per meal of $1.86. The federal government does not adjust the benefit to account for geographic variations in prices. In addition, the federal government does not adjust income thresholds based on geographic location. As a result, approximately 44% of food-insecure residents in Alameda County have incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level, meaning they do not qualify for CalFresh.
Increase in Demand for Food Distribution Services: Food distribution providers across Hayward have seen a spike in demand over the past year. For the first three months of 2022, Tiburcio Vasquez was serving an average of 329 clients. For the past three months, that number has jumped to an average of 896.
Changing Demographics: Before the pandemic, the service population for Eden United Church of Christ’s food distribution was 88% Latinx/Hispanic. It is now 47% Asian/Pacific Islander and 43% Latinx/Hispanic. This demographic change was echoed by other service providers, as well as a focus on serving seniors.
Existing Assets:
South Hayward Parish/FirstPres, Glad Tidings, Eden United Church of Christ, and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Clinic are participating in the Hayward Food Action Plan process. Alameda County Community Food Bank is providing technical assistance and connections. In addition, other partners are passionate about learning more about food access needs and how they may be able to help grow the network of service providers in Hayward. The image on the next page shows the agency network that works with the Food Bank. City staff intend to reach out to other Hayward providers as staff are surveying needs.
There is potential to possibly leverage the City’s paratransit program when serving Hayward’s senior population.
Challenges and Gaps in Service
While COVID relief funding allowed food distribution providers to continue their services, providers face a funding cliff as relief funding disappears despite persistent demand for food.
As COVID relief funding runs out, food pantries are seeking strategies for continuing to serve marginally food insecure residents who do not qualify for benefits.
With the substantial changes among client demographics, providers have expressed a gap in the availability of culturally appropriate food to meet these changes. As a results, some items in food distribution run out quickly, while others are going to waste.
As with all programming in Hayward, finding resources to increase language access, especially for diverse Asian communities, is an ongoing challenge.
Alameda County Community Food Bank Network - Click here for larger image Career Pathways & Entrepreneurship: Initial Findings from Partner Interviews Existing Assets
Tennyson High School recently launched a sustainable agriculture pathway called Farm 2 Fork which offers courses around food and sustainable growing. Courses include: Sustainable Agriculture Biology, Chemistry & Sustainable Agriculture, and Sustainable Agriculture Entrepreneurship.
Eden Area ROP has a strong culinary pathway where students get state certified and professional experience while obtaining college credit.
Chabot College has expressed interest in starting credit and non-credit courses focused on agriculture and culinary trades. Similarly, faculty members from Cal State East Bay are interested in partnering with Chabot College to identify student pathways to a four-year degree.
The Alameda County’s Deputy Sheriff’s Activities League (DSAL) is investing in a Food Hub at the Stack Center to offer support and resources to small businesses and future entrepreneurs.
Challenges and Gaps in Service
Due to the stress put on organizations during the pandemic, there is little to no capacity for existing staff to develop cohesive curriculum across agencies.
The Council has raised the need to proactively address the number of unlicensed food vendors that have increased during the pandemic. However, there are few current solutions to help these vendors continue their livelihood legally.
Initial Findings from Partner Interviews – Food Recovery Existing Assets
The Alamanda County Food Recovery Network, hosted by StopWaste, includes several food recovery organizations and services throughout the County and in Hayward. StopWaste has compiled resources and created a reporting portal to assist with the implementation of SB 1383. StopWaste has plans to create a mapping tool in the coming year to map food generators and food recovery organizations.
The City’s Environmental Services division is taking steps to address the compost mandate in SB 1383.
Challenges and Gaps in Service
Food recovery is a fairly new industry. Food recovery organizations expressed a need for more centralized coordination to be able to more efficiently identify food generators and agencies that need food. Currently, they are mostly relying on peer-to-peer connections. There are apps available to provide this tracking, but usage is still inconsistent.
As cities are required to purchase locally-generated compost, there is not yet a clear plan on how to distribute compost to end users, which is anticipate to be resource intensive.
Initial Findings from Partner Interviews – Culture, Heritage, and Community Wellness Existing Assets
HARD recently opened the renovated Hayward Community Gardens, which has 70 garden plots for rent.
The UC Master Gardener Program of Alameda County has a successful program to certify community volunteers to provide trainings and demonstrations. These are occurring periodically in Hayward, including at the Hayward Community Gardens.
After disruptions due to the pandemic, the Hayward Seed Lending Library program has relaunched in-person classes and events.
Established in late 2019, Forestr.org is providing innovative programming to activate public spaces in Castro Valley and north Hayward. They are now sponsoring the lease for the longstanding Hazel Community Garden on Main Street.
UC Berkeley Cooperative Extension launched a mapping tool this month to identify existing urban farms and gardens. We can use this tool to document assets in Hayward.
Challenges and Gaps in Service
The primary challenge identified by providers is a lack of funding and capacity. All partners enthusiastically recognize the benefits of multi-cultural programming around food and growing food, but no agency currently has the resources to expand offerings, which are relatively limited in Hayward compared to neighboring jurisdictions.
Project Eat, a program of Alameda County Office of Education, was a critical provider of these services in Hayward schools until recently. The program lost funding over the past several years and has left a gap as well as underused gardens boxes on school campuses.
As mentioned above, language access is an ongoing challenge.
Planning Process
Over the next five months, City staff will coordinate multiple works sessions for each of the categories listed above. In the work sessions, partners will collectively summarize existing assists, identify gaps in services, and prioritize near-term steps to address these gaps. In addition to the work sessions, staff is organizing several field visits to observe smart practices from neighboring communities.
Utilizing Planning Grant Funds to Best Engage the Community for a Local Vision During the interviews with partner agencies, partners emphasized the desire for community-led research that includes local interns and stipends for participants. In addition, partners expressed a desire to learn from best practices in other bay area communities. For this reason, staff plans to utilize the grant funds from the Stupski Foundation to:
Offer subgrants to partners to hire community ambassadors/informants to perform peer-to-peer interviewing and neighborhood surveying Arrange site visits to successful circular food economy examples Host interns to support evidence gathering and plan site visits Bring in relevant speakers
Projected Timeline
August – October
Meet with community leaders and service providers
Food Action Plan Committee Kickoff
October – March
Work group meetings:
Conduct asset mapping activity
Identify gaps in services
Develop recommended near-term steps with responsible agencies Site visits to successful circular food economy examples Data collection: community interviewing and surveying
Planning Retreat to UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology March
Initial Draft of the Action Plan
Full group edits of the Action Plan
April
Finalize Draft of the Action Plan
Present Action Plan to Council
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Potential positive economic impacts from convening local food partners and developing a community-informed plan include:
Preventing duplicative services
Combining resources and assets to work on collaborative initiatives Sharing resource and grant opportunities among one another Developing relationships for future collaboration
FISCAL IMPACT
The funding for this grant is solely for the purpose of planning and capacity building. It is a one-time grant with no match requirement and will have no impact on the City’s funds.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item is a project in the City’s Strategic Roadmap under the priority Confront Climate Crisis & Champion Environmental Justice:
E13: Explore funding opportunities to increase the circular food economy in Hayward as part of the Alameda County All in Eats Initiative In addition, this item is related to the following Strategic Roadmap projects:
E6: Sidewalk Vendor Ordinance
E8: Strengthen workforce development pipelines
E13: Explore an outdoor marketplace that allows for a variety of vendors N13: Oversee the rebuilding of the South Hayward Youth and Family Center
NEXT STEPS
Staff will take Council feedback on these topics and continue to work with the Hayward Food Action Plan Committee to assess needs and identify key action steps. Work group meetings and site visits will occur October-March and staff will come back to Council in the spring of 2023 to present the draft Hayward Food Action Plan.
Prepared by: Emily Hwang, Management Fellow
Mary Thomas, Management Analyst
Recommended by: Jennifer Ott, Assistant City Manager
Approved by:
_________________________________
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/101443/unmet_charitable_food_need_report_in_alameda_county_1.pdf https://www.alamedacountysocialservices.org/about-us/Government-and-Community-Relations/offices/data-and-evaluation https://www.urban.org/features/does-snap-cover-cost-meal-your-county https://ucanr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Shortlist/index.html?appid=ef68873e3906426c81a8cb6f1a0b9f1a