Meet our New Board Members! |
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The SC Food Policy Council is excited to introduce 6 new members of our Board of Directors! The Board of Directors is comprised of individuals from across the state working in the broader food system. |
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Michael Brown Roots of Life Cafe, Farms, and Gardens |
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Guillermo Espinosa Senior Planner for Central Midlands Council of Governments and Development Director for Alianza Latina of the Midlands What interests you in being a part of SCFPC? I'm a big foodie, into cooking, baking, preservation, fermentation, all of the things. In general I want to learn about, contribute to, and support local food systems, and fresh food resources and education. But in particular I want to make these resources available to the Hispanic community. Access to a variety of fresh food is important to me, and I want everyone to have affordable access to that experience. |
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What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the SCFPC Board of Directors? To have a better idea of the food system resources within the Hispanic community and how to connect providers to the people that need fresh food. An idea of providers, at least, would be helpful. Fresh food/culinary education in Spanish is another goal. Finally, connection to discretionary funds that could be applied to food insecurity regardless of citizenship status would be amazing. |
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Ken Harven South Carolina Association for Community and Economic Development |
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Matt Kneece S.C. Policy Coordinator for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association What interests you in being a part of SCFPC? I'm Matt Kneece and I serve as S.C. Policy Coordinator for the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. Through advocacy, education and farm services, CFSA strives to create sustainable food systems in the Carolinas centered on local and organic agriculture. The S.C. Food Policy Council has a proven track record of strategic policy planning on this front, and I'm excited to complement this mission with CFSA's 40 years of experience. |
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What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the SCFPC Board of Directors? During my board tenure, my goal is to further connect local growers with local consumers, laying the foundation for a resilient and antifragile food system in South Carolina. |
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Miko Pickett Pick 42 Foundation |
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Kyle Player Executive Director of the Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship, Rural Resource Coalition (RRC), Lee County Farm Bureau, Lee County Agribusiness Chapter, SC Rural Innovation Network What interests you in being a part of SCFPC? I think SC organizations working together to strengthen the statewide food system is imperative. It is important to concentrate on food access in rural/poorer areas, along with sourcing food from local farmers. |
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What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the SCFPC Board of Directors? I hope to bring my knowledge from working with rural agriculture entrepreneurs and learning their needs to make the ag industry’s outreach even better suited to help rural SC. I also hope to improve fresh food access in rural SC. |
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SCFPC Quarterly General Membership Meeting on June 27 from 1-2:30pm |
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Be sure to sign up for the Quarterly General Membership Meeting taking place virtually on Tuesday, June 27th from 1-2:30pm. As a member, we would ask that in the coming days you take a few minutes to reach out to at least one other person to invite them to become a member of SCFPC and attend the next quarterly meeting. Sign up today! |
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SNAP-Ed Program Awards Grants to Expand Local Food Policy Councils Across South Carolina |
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The University of South Carolina SNAP-Ed Implementing Agency, in partnership with the SCFPC, has awarded nearly $12,000 each to seven groups across the state. The Brookland Center for Community Economic Change, Eat Smart Move More of Greenwood (in partnership with United Way of Greenwood and Abbeville Counties), Impact York County, LiveWell Greenville, Oconee Food Summit, Pick 42 Foundation, and Tri-County Health Network will use the funding to expand and develop their local food policy councils. With this funding, the grantees will conduct community food assessments, including holding community food gatherings, in order to identify and then advance policy, systems and environmental change strategies to increase access to healthy food and ensure food equity. They will also engage priority populations and partners from diverse sectors (e.g., healthcare, planning, local government, law enforcement) in the food council policy. "This funding will help to support staffing for the development of a Food Policy Council in the West Columbia/Cayce area," says Cindye Richburg Cotton, Executive Director of the Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center and a founding member of the WECO-Cayce Food Policy Council. "A food policy council does not currently exist in the Lexington County area, however because of existing collaborative partnerships, the Brookland Center for Community and Economic Change has a strong foundation to build upon and these funds [will] help to formally establish such as a Council to complete important work in order to increase food security in the community." Click here to read the full article! |
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Agribusiness Planning Program Applications Due Sept. 14 |
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ACRE and Clemson Agribusiness Team have partnered for the 4th annual Agribusiness Planning Curriculum. If you’re a South Carolina resident with a small agribusiness or interested in starting one this is the program for you. Attendees will receive training in marketing, financial planning, value-added processes, legal requirements, state and federal grant opportunities, and more. All classes will be online (Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28 & Nov. 4) with a pitch day (Dec. 9) in-person in Columbia. Applications will be released on August 10th and will be due on September 14th. Contact Kyle Player (kplayer@scda.sc.gov) if you’re interested. |
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SCFPC Staff Introduce Community Food Gathering Toolkit |
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SCFPC staff, Ashley Page Bookhart and Zach Herrnstadt, joined Jared Cates of Community Food Strategies last month to present a new toolkit for food councils and community groups called Public Forums: An Event Planning Toolkit for Communities at the Leadership Summit for Healthy Communities. The Columbia Food Policy Committee hosted several public forum events around Columbia and Richland County in 2019 that were intentionally designed to be community-led and informed. These forums created deep engagement and buy-in, and highlighted community food system issues that were then used to inform food system-related policy changes at the city level. The lessons learned through that process are now available in this toolkit, which also provides tips for meaningful virtual convenings. |
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Send us your News, Updates, and Stories! |
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Do you have interesting news, updates, or stories to share? SCFPC is seeking contributions from members to feature in our quarterly newsletter. Please send any news, updates, or stories that you would like to be considered for inclusion in the next quarterly newsletter to scfoodpolicycouncil@gmail.com. |
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South Carolina WIC Benefits Increase for Fruits and Vegetables WBTW - South Carolina’s WIC program is making it easier for program participants to purchase more healthy produce by temporarily increasing the Cash Value Benefit (CVB) for fruit and vegetable purchases beginning June 1. All CVBs for eligible women and children will increase from $9–$11 per month to $35 per month through September 30. Zoning for Urban Agriculture Healthy Food Policy Project - A guide for updating your city's laws to support healthy food production and access. |
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