Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
9 <br /> 1 connected to institutional support. She said existing assets need to be considered along, with <br /> 2 the return on investment around community self determination and community driven economic <br /> 3 development. She said it can feel difficult on the institutional side for how to reach people who <br /> 4 do not have access to resources on grants, small business loans, and information. She said <br /> 5 one idea to address this difficulty is to give funding to community organizations who can then <br /> 6 disburse the funds, such as EmPOWERment, Inc. <br /> 7 Ashley Heger said a common question from people in the food economy is about access <br /> 8 to cold storage. She said there are infrastructural changes that could be made to benefit the <br /> 9 community and economic development. <br /> 10 Ashley Heger said the Council is conducting a new food assessment, and collecting best <br /> 11 practices from those doing the work on a daily basis. She resumed the PowerPoint <br /> 12 presentation: <br /> 13 <br /> 14 Slide #3 <br /> Orange County Black Farmers <br /> Think tank framework <br /> Recommendation from an equity asse—sarnentOCTriangle 3 IEF report and need for subject-matter expertise System Academy <br /> a Training program for alecteds+staff <br /> v Focus on equity in tood systems development <br /> Regional supply chain and infrastructure <br /> o Institutional procurement <br /> a Food access implications <br /> 9 Impacts on local small businesses <br /> 15 <br /> 16 <br /> 17 Ashley Heger said in 2020, the Orange County Black Farmers Think Tank was created. <br /> 18 She said the food system is not doing anything to disrupt institutional racism, and the county <br /> 19 was encouraged to hear from actual black farmers and learn from them. She said it is important <br /> 20 to build real relationships between various parties to gain understanding and trust between the <br /> 21 marginalized and institutions. She said the bridges have to be built on a larger scale than just <br /> 22 person-to-person. She said the food council is working with Triangle J on these issues. <br /> 23 Ashley Hager said in addition to cold storage, people have asked for shared meeting <br /> 24 space, in order to work together more. She resumed the PowerPoint presentation: <br /> 25 <br /> 26 <br />