Washtenaw Food Policy Council
Policy Action Team Meeting Minutes
Use this form to take minutes at each Policy Action Team meeting. Proposed minutes must be available within eight business
days after a meeting. Approved minutes must be available within five days after the meeting at which they are approved. Send
proposed and approved minutes to Kathy Fellabaum at fellabaumk@ewashtenaw.org
Policy Action Team:
Food and Food Packaging Waste
Date of Meeting:
April 15, 2014
Time of Meeting:
3:30 – 5:04 PM
Address of Meeting:
City of Ann Arbor, City Hall, 301 E Huron Street
1st floor Conference Room
Washtenaw Food Policy Council attendees:
Nicole Chardoul, RRS and WFPC Chair
Additional attendees (first and last names):
Noelle Bowman, Washtenaw County, PAT Chair
Kyle Metta, WFPC Mapping Consultant
Jennifer Maxwell, Washtenaw County
Priya Knangura, Food Gatherer’s
Public comment (first and last names):
Note taker:
None
Jennifer Maxwell
1. 3:30P-3:35
Introductions; Approve 4/15 Minutes & 5/20 Agenda
2. 3:35-3:47
General Announcements (share any relevant news,
stories, etc.!)
Agenda:
3. 3:47-3:55
Full Policy Council Updates
4. 3:55-4:15
Latest “Draft WFPC Policy Agenda” review
5. 4:15-4:50
EPP Policy Packet First Draft Review & Feedback
6. 4:50-4:57
Mapping Projects Updates & Brainstorming
7. 4:57-5:04
Discuss Best Next Steps for our PAT
8. 4:57-5:04P
Concluding Comments & Adjournment
Date minutes approved:
Meeting Minutes:
Started at 3:45 pm
1) Approve Minutes - Moved by Nicole Chardoul and seconded by Noelle Bowman, approved unanimously;
Approve Agenda - Moved by Nicole Chardoul and seconded by Noelle Bowman, approved unanimously;
2) General Announcements
a. Noelle: NY Times article.
‘Dillo Dirt’ sales turning a profit from food waste, UN Report 1.3 trillion tons of food waste
annually.
b. Noelle: Harvard Bio-plastics article
Bioplastics being made from shrimp shells: can be made into boxes, 3d shapes, trash bags, etc.
c. Nicole: Massachusetts Organics ban went into effect, 1 ton or more required to divert from
landfill via Anaerobic Digestion [AE], composting or livestock [hogs].
Washtenaw Food Policy Council
Policy Action Team Meeting Minutes
Use this form to take minutes at each Policy Action Team meeting. Proposed minutes must be available within eight business
days after a meeting. Approved minutes must be available within five days after the meeting at which they are approved. Send
proposed and approved minutes to Kathy Fellabaum at fellabaumk@ewashtenaw.org
d.
Priya: Vermont passed GMO labeling law
3) Full Policy Council Updates
a. Nicole: At the last Full Council meeting last May 5th, Lindsey Scalera gave very comprehensive
Farm Bill Update. Policy Action Team gave updates, farmers focus on gaps for urban farming. In
early June with have a list of advisors/reviewers for policy agenda. Present for the Board of
Commissioners in the Fall. Internally voted to support Commissioner Rahbi’s statement of
support for raising minimum wage.
4) Latest “Draft WFPC Policy Agenda” review
a. Shared color-coded draft Policy Council Agenda to PAT.
b. Decided to categorize all of the “Waste & Packaging” action items as Long term/short term goals
and set rough timeline for each action item in the Draft Policy Agenda.
c. Kyle to incorporate an “activities” section that supports each Action Item.
d. Noelle: Short Term Goal: #6, Long Term Goal, Short Term Activities: #7 [Mapping amount of food
waste, color code levels, infrastructure] #19 similar.
e. Nicole: A good place to start to support # 7 would be to quantify waste generated by sector.
Data gathering from cafeterias, grocery, restaurants, etc. [zoning and sectors, sq. footage] to
then provide support for infrastructure to support waste diversion. Can likely get measurements
from UM, WCC, Food Gatherers, St. Joes, EPA? Start with big waste generators and then break
it down into smaller categories. For Action Item #6, write out “Environmental Preferable
Purchasing” as many do not know what the ‘EPP” abbreviation stands for.
f. Kyle: #19 [and others should be advocate, guidelines, standards?] Provide model ordinances and
advocate since cannot amend.
g. Nicole: #6/#19 Purchasing Cooperative as an activity. Noelle: State of Michigan may have
cooperative for those who want to purchase from a specific list. Joanna: Local Vendors must fill
out application, use this as a guideline. #19 – Reuse, reduce before collecting.
h. Nicole: Activity; Food take-out containers, reusable v. compostable and biodegradable & FAQ’s,
Surveys for restaurants.
i. Noelle: Home Composting: Switched hands from City of Ann Arbor to Project Grow,
$50/person/class is completely spent during the class. Idea to require/encourage “qualified EPP
Purchasers” cooperative to send 1+ person to this class. Offer Scholarships?
5) Policy Packet First Draft Review & Feedback
a. Noelle: Policy to be sent out in coming weeks. Policy and procedures by next Tuesday. “Why
Update?” Form will include concise info. to show why the county should change policies. Include
other local governments that have successfully changed over. [Mini-map of US] Timeline: 1st
year 25%, 2nd 50%, 3rd year 90%, 4-10 years work on the last 10%. Slow and steady phase out of
waste to landfill and instead reuse, recycling, composting and/or Waste-To-Energy, aka Zero
Waste.
b. Kyle: Went through Washtenaw County’s Staples purchasing records and pulled weights and
costs for changing to items more preferable. Weight looks high but also due to packaging, not
individual products [cups]. Can also reduce future numbers through reusable kitchen items. Less
than 1% of purchases would be impacted [approx. .08%].
c. Priya: Phel and Business Case Analysis for school lunch trays. Life Cycle Analysis - Cascadia
Compost Study
d. Noelle, Jen, Nicole: Panera utensils, sturdy bags/boxes, coffee, sandwich liners/wraps poly
coated. Washtenaw County uses Panera largely for catering lunches, meetings, etc. Idea to
meet and find way to switch to more sustainable, reusable packaging items, such as,
biodegradable sandwich liners and reusable packaging. Perhaps we should round up a group of
folks from the County, UM, and others who primarily use Panera Catering as ‘leverage’ to
encourage change as a whole.
Washtenaw Food Policy Council
Policy Action Team Meeting Minutes
Use this form to take minutes at each Policy Action Team meeting. Proposed minutes must be available within eight business
days after a meeting. Approved minutes must be available within five days after the meeting at which they are approved. Send
proposed and approved minutes to Kathy Fellabaum at fellabaumk@ewashtenaw.org
6) Mapping Projects Updates & Brainstorming
a. Kyle: Maps/Graphics: Farmers Market Settings: Fruit & Veggie Expenditures, Pop with Limited
Food Access/Markets, Utilization of School Nutrition Programs, Food Waste & Composting, % of
Pop. with Low Food Access via public transportation [AATA, etc.]
7) Next Steps
a. Add “Activities,” Data & Mapping/visual needs for each Policy Action Item.
b. Add timeline, minimum categorization of Short/Long and follow up by setting actual deadline
dates.
c. Final drafts for policy changes to go to administration in next few weeks
d. Reshare: Google Drive Document: Framework Table amongst group.
8) Concluding Comments & Adjournment
a. Next Meeting on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. Same place, same time.
Meeting Adjourned 5:04pm