The Importance of the RI Food Czar Position: Guest MINDSETTERS™ Lynch & Richman
Guest MINDSETTERS™ Diane Lynch & Nessa Richman, RI Food Policy Council
The Importance of the RI Food Czar Position: Guest MINDSETTERS™ Lynch & Richman
In every area of growth, the Director of Food Strategy has played a key role.
This key position is currently vacant and, we understand, in serious danger of being eliminated as a budget-cutting measure.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe RI Food Policy Council urges Governor Raimondo and CommerceRI Secretary Stefan Pryor to retain this key position within CommerceRI and to include it as an important implementation resource for achieving 2020 economic growth targets.
A cursory look at the impacts that the Director of Food Strategy has had on our food system reveals too many significant improvements to list here. Some key ones that are worth highlighting are
- Increasing institutional purchases of local food by Rhode Island universities through leading the development of SupplyRI events and supply chain consulting, shepherding grant funding to qualified university partners, developing and managing the strategic partnerships needed to continue growing local purchases.
- Growing investments in the state’s food infrastructure, including Farm Fresh RI’s new food hub campus and the Gotham Greens facility in Providence, by providing critical connections to state and city regulatory agencies, state financing expertise, and important community partners, all vital activities to attract and retain business investment in the food system.
- Eliminating regulatory roadblocks that contributed to an unfavorable business environment and which did not serve an important public good. Examples include reducing or eliminating uncompetitive fees for some food processors, streamlining food truck regulation across municipalities, and increasing SBAP funding.
- Developing targeted workforce development programming for food system businesses by leading a collaboration between the Dept of Labor and Training, RI Nursery and Landscape Association (RINLA), Karen Karp & Partners, and the RI Food Policy Council (RIFPC). This collaboration links food system employees to essential training programs, creating a pipeline of both traditional and non-traditional employees for food system jobs.
Just as important as these tangible ‘wins’ are the areas where the Director has provided leadership and created momentum to address and solve long-term challenges in the food system --- challenges that need a strategic commitment to successfully address.
These efforts include developing a powerful ‘Rhode Island local’ brand family that includes tourism, hospitality, and local food products and stimulates demand for all three; eliminating multiple supply chain barriers to increase the flow of locally landed seafood products to local/regional markets; leading efforts by Rhode Island’s food sector businesses to identify and implement climate resiliency programs and investments; leading efforts by Rhode Island’s state agencies and community partners to eliminate food insecurity across the state.
Rhode Island’s food systems offer tremendous opportunities for growth and prosperity. We encourage the administration to support the Directorship position as a critical part of the continued growth in our food system’s equity and environmental and economic sustainability in the coming years.
Diane Lynch serves as the Chairwoman of the RI Food Policy Council.
Nessa Rickman serves as the Network Director of the RI Food Policy Council.