Agenda 12-14-21; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 1 Mike Ortosky said the BOCC has heard a lot of information this evening, and he and his 2 colleagues are not seeking funding or policy change, but rather awareness and education. He 3 said this is an opportunity to continue to lead and make impactful changes. 4 Chair Price asked Mart Bumgartner if he could identify the federal funding provided to 5 put produce in boxes. 6 Mart Bumgartner said it is part of the Covid recovery program, and is called the ESF-11 7 initiative. 8 Commissioner Fowler asked Eric Hallman if there is a limit on how long members can 9 participate at PFPC, is the program full at this time, and how do people apply to be involved. 10 Eric Hallman said there is no time limit for staying at PFPC, and people move on as they 11 need more room. He said there is no residency requirement, and people come from Winston 12 Salem to Raleigh, and all benefit Orange County. He said they currently have 65 clients. He 13 said demand has grown during the pandemic, and they are trying to find more ways to squeeze 14 people in. 15 Commissioner Fowler said if they are almost full, it sounds like it might be time to grow 16 the facility. She asked if there might be some businesses ready to transition out of the center. 17 Eric Hallman said some of the members are in the food truck industry, and they need a 18 commercial kitchen to operate, and PFPC serves this purpose. He said there is a need for a 19 space for members to grow to after starting at the center. He said 100,000 square foot facility 20 would be great with some shared space, which businesses can graduate to from PFPC. He 21 said nothing like this exists. 22 Commissioner Fowler asked if there are plans to apply for funding for some of these 23 infrastructure needs. 24 Eric Hallman said they are leading the food section of the Build Back Better grant. He 25 said they will put together a grant proposal in the spring for $25-100 million to be used 26 throughout the state to build out infrastructure. He said if there was money they would build a 27 food campus. 28 Commissioner Fowler clarified that there is no residency requirement, but asked if all 29 members were from North Carolina. 30 Eric Hallman said it is mostly North Carolinians, with the occasional Virginian. 31 Commissioner McKee asked Ashley Heger about data for connecting Orange County 32 farmers to markets. He said he is not seeing the results he expected from when the Council 33 was created, and he is not hearing commercial farmers talk about receiving any positive impacts 34 from the food council. 35 Ashley Heger clarified that Commissioner McKee was looking for metrics. 36 Commissioner McKee said he is concerned about farmers operating on a thin margin, 37 and the work being done is at a 30,000-foot level, as opposed to directly impacting farmers and 38 their survival. 39 Ashley Heger said the Council provided $15,000 to fund the Black Farmers Think Thank 40 and make it easier for them to meet. She said the Orange County Black Farmers provided 41 training to new farmers for going to markets. 42 Ashley Heger said the Council is working on an online platform called Fresh Fire which 43 will allow farmers to list their produce on a website, which food retailers could access to see 44 what is available. She said the idea would be for the county to support that platform to bring 45 farmers and retailers together. 46 Chair Price suggested that Ashley Heger put together a report in the spring on the 47 impact of Fresh Fire. 48 Commissioner McKee asked James Watts if Weaver Street Market pays a premium for 49 local products. 50 James Watts said yes, and Weaver Street Market has done this since they opened in 51 1988. He said it is in recognition of the needs of local farmers to thrive, which is also important