DATE: October 24, 2023
TO: Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Hayward Food Action Plan: Review and Discuss Findings and Staff’s Proposed Next Steps Regarding the Hayward Food Action Plan
RECOMMENDATION
That Council reviews this report and provides feedback and direction to staff.
SUMMARY
This report summarizes the background, findings, and next steps of the Hayward Food Action Plan process. In 2022, the City received grant funding from the Stupski Foundation to conduct planning activities to identify assets and gaps and build capacity in Hayward food systems. At this work session, staff is seeking Council feedback on the attached summary document (Attachment II) before finalizing it and sharing it on the City’s website. In addition, staff is seeking Council direction on actions that staff is proposing the City take moving forward, specifically whether these are the right areas on which the City should continue to take a leadership role.
BACKGROUND
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City launched and staffed a food distribution site in partnership with Chabot Community College and the Hayward Recreation and Park District that distributed 1,701,432 pounds of food to 179,700 people. This collaborative effort was a successful example of partnership among organizations across sectors to coordinate services and programs for our most vulnerable communities.
Despite that success, throughout the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, community-based organizations (CBOs) and educational partners came to the City expressing the need for more capacity building and intentional planning to shift from being reactive to preventative when it comes to food security. At the same time, various community groups were in touch with the City about a desire to see more support for growing food locally and bolstering the local food economy. Since then, the City has taken the following steps:
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.
At the January 29, 2022 Strategic Roadmap Planning session, Council unanimously ranked the project to “explore funding opportunities to increase the circular food economy in Hayward” as one of the highest priority items.
On October 11, 2022, Council authorized the City Manager to accept a grant from the Stupski Foundation for $125,000 to convene community partners and develop a community-informed Hayward Food Action Plan.
On October 25, 2022, staff presented to Council initial findings from conversations with over 30 community leaders, organizations, and service providers. These leaders were enthusiastic about being part of a more centralized network of partners, and the vast majority continued to engage throughout a year-long process focused on strengthening relationships among partners, creating opportunities for collaboration, and creating an inventory of assets, gaps, and recommendations.
On June 6, 2023, Council included the following item in their adopted Strategic Roadmap for fiscal years 2024 to 2025+ under Confront Climate Crisis & Champion Environmental Justice: C8 - Continue to partner with Alameda County All In Eats to encourage food recovery.
City’s Role in the Planning Process
The City of Hayward, like most other cities in Alameda County, does not have a division specifically dedicated to food. The Community Services Division funds social service agencies that distribute food, Environmental Services conducts activities to increase food recovery, Economic Development has programs that support food businesses, and the Planning Division has land use ordinances that govern agricultural activities.
Regionally, the following agencies have traditionally been responsible for food systems work in Alameda County:
Alameda County Social Services Agency, in partnership with their contracting agency Alameda County Food Bank, are the leads on addressing food insecurity, including being the local administrator of CalFresh benefits.
StopWaste plays a lead role in coordinating regional food recovery activities in response to SB 1383.
Alameda County Board of Supervisors has funded the bulk of the regional work to grow a circular food economy, particularly the office of the late Supervisor Wilma Chan.
Alameda County Resource Conservation District (ACRCD) provides leadership on the management of regional agricultural and grazing land.
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources is the statewide Department that organizes local programs like Master Gardeners and Urban Agriculture. In addition, UC Berkeley is one of the land-grant institutions that conducts research and outreach as part of the US Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension program.
The City’s role in this planning process was as the fiscal sponsor and convener of local partners. The goal of the Hayward Food Action Plan work has been to help Hayward’s non-profit and educational partners better understand the action steps needed to close services gaps in Hayward and strengthen relationships among each other.
DISCUSSION
The Hayward Food Action Plan helped Hayward’s non-profit and educational partners build a network across the City and developed a list of assets, gaps, and recommended actions. From August 2022 to October 2023, the City took on the role as the convener and facilitated a network of partners to offer their expertise and knowledge on the current food system landscape.
Findings
The attached draft document (Attachment II) summarizes the activities completed during development of the plan, participating partners, assets, gaps, and recommendations developed by partners. The goal of this document is to highlight the planning work done over the past year, give an overview of Hayward’s food system’s key assets and gaps, and identify next steps. At this work session, staff is seeking feedback from Council on this document before finalizing it and sharing it on the City’s website.
Brief Summary of Assets (see Attachment II for more details and photos):
Many of Hayward’s community members have agricultural backgrounds and knowledge.
Hayward is home to fertile land and low pest populations.
Hayward’s community-based organizations have developed their own local networks to increase food recovery.
The Bay Area has a large pool of regional professionals in food systems work: food banks, food recovery, educational institutions.
There is a willingness to collaborate across sectors.
Hayward has a large food industry sector in our own backyard.
The Hayward area is home to a handful of community-based projects that nurture food systems work: Hayward Community Garden, Lydia’s Farm, Brown Girl Farm, Dig Deep, Eden Area ROP Garden, Tennyson High Farm, Feed Hayward.
Brief Summary of Gaps:
There is inconsistent citywide access to affordable food/food distribution. Service providers have experienced increases in demand for food but lack the capacity to expand services to address the demand.
Limited refrigerated warehouse space presents barriers for service providers to expand their services to the community.
Service providers struggle to keep up with rapid shifts in client demographics and offering proper access to culturally relevant foods.
Community members expressed a lack of access to training and enrichment activities in cooking and gardening, especially after Project Eat ceased operations at Hayward schools (Project Eat was previously operated by Alameda County Office of Education).
Despite large areas of undeveloped land and good soil, community members expressed barriers to access land for growing food.
Partners expressed a need for more centralized coordination in the food recovery industry that is attempting to respond to the requirements of SB 1383.
Small food entrepreneurs expressed a lack of programs to support them with business growth, especially assistance to meet regulatory requirements and the need for affordable commercial kitchen space.
Next Steps
Now that the grant work has concluded, many partners have identified their own action steps they plan to take to close the gaps in Hayward’s food system. The partners have expressed gratitude that the City took the initial step in convening this partnership. In addition, during the final planning meeting, partners expressed the desire to see the following cooperative work continue.
Ongoing space to continue convening and sharing resources:
Feed Hayward has committed to hosting a partnership meeting at least once a quarter moving forward.
Ongoing City support to seek funding opportunities and communicate resources to the community:
City staff and other partners have reaffirmed a willingness to write letters of support when other partners are applying for funding. The City will also maintain a webpage that summarizes the planning work that occurred over the past year.
City staff will continue to explore funding opportunities for related food work that is currently in the City’s scope of work and share opportunities and offer letters of support for partners.
City staff plans to organize a central food resource page to share with the public and partners along with the food distribution map.
Centralized coordination in food recovery (SB 1383):
StopWaste hosts regional resource groups and offers technical support around SB1383 response. However, partners have shared the need for additional coordination and more localized solutions to connect food generators with food distributors and ensure businesses have what they need to successfully meet the State mandate. Hayward’s Environmental Services Division is proposing a series of related action steps as part of the proposed Climate Action Plan (see Attachment III for a draft list).
Local partners that are crucial to food recovery include Daily Bowl and Dig Deep Farms, which is housed in the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs Activities League (DSAL) and was championed by late Supervisor Wilma Chan. DSAL and Daily Bowl, in partnership with Tri-CED, recently approached City staff with a proposal and funding request to increase food recovery activities in Hayward. Staff is reviewing this proposal.
In addition to the items above, staff is proposing that the City stay involved with food system work in several areas, which are listed on the next pages. At this work session, staff is seeking direction from Council on the following nine actions, specifically whether these are the right areas on which the City should continue to take a leadership role. These actions are not ranked or listed in any specific order. 1 - Continue community lease for Hazel Garden
Gaps this seeks to address
Access to land to grow food & Access to training and enrichment activities Description
Community members in the Prospect Hill neighborhood have maintained a public garden on 22196 Main Street for decades, referred to as the Hazel Community Garden. This City is the owner of this parcel. In 2022, staff became aware that there was no written lease agreement for the garden. Council authorized staff to execute a lease in October 2022 with Forestr.org, which agreed to sponsor oversight of the garden operations on behalf of the neighborhood. The lease ends December 31, 2024, with the option for a two-year extension. Staff is recommending extending the lease upon Council’s direction.
Fiscal Impact
Funded through December 2023: As part of the current lease, the City agrees to pay for water and once-a-year clearing of brush on the sloped edge of the garden that boarders San Lorenzo creek. In 2023, this was paid for using one-time funding sources. If the City continues the lease with these terms, this would cost approximately $14,000 annually. 2 – Create a Business Plan for an Entrepreneurship Hub at the Stack Center Gap this seeks to address
Entrepreneurial support for small food businesses
Description
The future Stack Center campus will combine what is now the Eden Youth and Family Center and the Matt Jimenez Community Center (MJCC). Community members have long asked for programming to support local entrepreneurs. In response, the Stack Center will include several spaces designed for workshops, events, and popups. However, there are currently no providers identified to occupy these spaces once they are built.
In addition, the MJCC currently has a commercial kitchen that is unused and outdated. In December 2022, Council authorized staff to work with DSAL to expand the commercial kitchen and operate a business incubator program. As staff has worked on this project, both parties have identified opportunities to expand the scope to meet additional entrepreneur needs.
At this point, staff is recommending that the City hire a consultant to help create a business plan to raise money and create a sustainable operating model for a Entrepreneurship Hub.
Fiscal Impact
Unfunded: The cost to hire a one-time consultant to create a business plan to build and operate an Entrepreneurship Hub is approximately $40,000. If Council directs staff to move forward with this proposal, staff would then use the business plan to apply for capital funding grants to build the Hub, including funding from the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA). 3 - Continue South Hayward farmer’s market feasibility study Gap this seeks to address
Entrepreneurial support for small food businesses & Citywide access to affordable food/food distribution Description
Staff worked with AIM and Eden Youth and Family Center to survey the community to gauge the interest and expectations for a South Hayward Farmer’s Market. Survey data has been shared with AIM and staff will continue to work with AIM to explore the possibility of a South Hayward Farmer’s Market.
Fiscal Impact
Funded: This work has been covered through the Stupski grant. Any future work will be absorbed into existing budgets. 4 – Continue work to respond to SB 1383 requirements for food recovery Gap this seeks to address
Centralized coordination in the food recovery industry (SB 1383) Description
Hayward’s Environmental Services Division staff is responsible for local tasks related to SB 1383, and they work closely with StopWaste to provide input on the regional activities that are facilitated by StopWaste.
Staff is proposing a series of action steps related to food recovery and SB 1383 as part of the proposed Environmental Justice Element and Climate Action Plan, which are scheduled to go to Council in December and January (see Attachment III for a draft list).
As mentioned above, staff is currently evaluating a proposal from Tri-CED, Daily Bowl, and DSAL, to fund a one-year food recovery program in Hayward.
Fiscal Impact
Unfunded: The proposal from Tri-CED, Daily Bowl, and DSAL includes a request for approximately $300,000 for a one-year pilot. The actions and programs identified in the draft Environmental Justice Element and Climate Action Plan will require additional staff and funding. Details will be provided in a future report to Council. 5 - Learn & Earn Summer Internship for HUSD students
Gap this seeks to address
Access to training and enrichment activities
Description
In summer of 2023, the City piloted a summer internship with the Hayward Unified School District, Eden Area ROP, and Forestr.org to offer work experience that teaches about food systems and provides stipends to students. The program was rated highly by student interns and the participating organizations.
Staff recommends continuing this program for the next two summers, while looking for grant funds to support the work moving forward.
Fiscal Impact
Funded through FY23: This program is paid for through the Stupski grant for summers of 2023 and 2024. If the City continues to support this program, it will be approximately $18,000 annually. 6 - Continue Seed Lending Library programs
Gap this seeks to address
Access to training and enrichment activities
Description
The Hayward Library’s Seed Lending Library provides an opportunity for community members to “borrow” seeds. In addition, the assigned Librarian coordinates regular free workshops on how to grow food.
The Seed Lending Library is working with the City Manager’s Office and Alameda County Master Gardeners to plan a series of workshops in spring 2024 as one of the People’s Budget projects.
Fiscal Impact
Funded: Staff time for this work is absorbed into the existing operating budget. 7 – Continue supporting food access organizations through the Community Agency Funding Process and technical support Gap this seeks to address
Citywide access to affordable food/food distribution
Description
The City funds several food access organizations through the Community Agency Funding process and offers technical support to any organization that reaches out for help. Most recently, the San Lorenzo Family Help Center reached out to the Community Services Division for a new location which the City helped to facilitate.
Fiscal Impact
Funded: This work is funded through the annual CDBG allocation and existing operating budget. 8 - Emergency planning for food distribution during a disaster Gap this seeks to address
Citywide access to affordable food/food distribution
Description
The Fire Department has hired a consultant to assist with a citywide emergency preparedness plan. Part of this work is to create a plan for large-scale food distribution in case of an emergency. Staff plans to bring Council a working version of the Emergency Preparedness Plan to adopt sometime in 2024.
Fiscal Impact
Funded: The consultant work and staff time are absorbed into the existing operating budget. 9 - Alameda County Resource Conversation District project to create sample land leases Gap this seeks to address
Access to land to grow food
Description
ACRCD applied for and recently received Land Access grant funding through the USDA Farm Services Agency to create a standardized process and legal documents to lease public land more easily to gardens and farms. Hayward and Oakland are the two agency partners for this grant, which begins implementation in November. The goal of the work is to provide all Hayward public agencies an easy-to-follow lease process and portal if they have public lands that are available for lease for agricultural purposes.
Fiscal Impact
Funded: Staff time for this work will be absorbed into the existing operating budget.
FISCAL IMPACT
Five of the nine activities above are covered by existing funding sources.
South Hayward farmer’s market feasibility study
Continue Seed Lending Library programs
Continue supporting food access organizations through the Community Agency Funding Process and technical support Emergency planning for food distribution during a disaster ACRCD project to create sample land leases for agriculture and gardening Four of the activities are unfunded or unfunded after a certain date. Based on Council direction at this work session, staff will either: 1) bring budget requests for each of these four items to Council for further consideration during the FY 2024 midyear or FY 2025 annual budget processes, or 2) no longer pursue these activities.
Continue the community lease for the Hazel Garden
Create a business plan for an Entrepreneurship Hub at the Stack Center Continue the Learn & Earn Summer Internship program
One-year pilot for DSAL, Daily Bowl, and Tri-CED to increase food recovery activities in Hayward Implementation of food recovery-related activities identified in the draft Climate Action Plan and draft Environmental Justice Element will require additional staff and funding. Details will be provided in a future Council report.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item is the direct result of a former project in the City’s Strategic Roadmap under the priority Confront Climate Crisis & Champion Environmental Justice: Explore funding opportunities to increase the circular food economy in Hayward as part of the Alameda County All in Eats Initiative.
This item is related to the following Strategic Roadmap projects that were adopted in June, 2023:
Enhance Community Safety and Quality of Life
Q8 – Update comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
Q16 – Continue to provide educational, cultural, and social support programs at the Hayward Library Q21 – Work with partners to design programming for the future Stack Center Community Event Plaza Confront Climate Crisis & Champion Environmental Justice C1 – Implement Year 1 Programs from the adopted GHG Roadmap (Climate Action Plan) C7 – Continue to identify opportunities for compost hubs and other distribution mechanisms for compost in Hayward C8 - Continue to partner with Alameda County All In Eats to encourage food recovery C12 – Implement Year 1 Programs from the adopted General Plan Environmental Justice Element, with a focus on mitigating the impact on frontline communities Grow the Economy
E3 – Continue to partner with DSAL to build and launch the commercial kitchen incubator program at the Stack Center E5 – Finalize Sidewalk Vendor Ordinance and provide a training on how to apply for a business license E7 – Provide cradle to career educational programs for all ages through cross-agency pathways, in partnership with the Hayward Promise Neighborhoods
NEXT STEPS
Based on Council’s feedback, staff will finalize the attached document and post it on the website. In addition, staff will proceed with the proposed nine action areas based on Council’s direction.
Prepared by: Emily Hwang, Management Analyst, Community Services Division Mary Thomas, Assistant to City Manager
Javier Castro, Acting Senior Secretary
Nicole Grucky, Senior Sustainability Specialist
Erik Pearson, Environmental Services Manager
Recommended by: Regina Youngblood, Assistant City Manager Dustin Claussen, Assistant City Manager
Approved by:
_____________________________________
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager