Minutes 11-10-2022 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 monthly meetings. She said that it is volunteer work. She said that the volunteer co-chairs were putting in a lot of time. She said it was common with other food councils in North Carolina. She said it was implemented sometime in 2020. Commissioner Bedford said Wake County is a non-profit. She said that was an early discussion about how this group should be organized. She said that on an 11-member council, with 4 elected officials, it only leaves 7 people to give input and now it is only every other month. She asked if there is a better way to format this work. Ashley Heger said the food council model came from a white cultural space. She said there are pros and cons for any structure. She said that being connected to the county and having the structural support is a huge benefit. She said Orange County is seen as an outlier in the state and even nationally because of the support they have to invest in the work. She said that when you look at the most functional food councils are housed in departments with multiple staff. She said those staff members are usually shared so there is cross pollination of knowledge. She said that being part of this institution has allowed that to be true. She said that on the nonprofit side there is a struggle between chasing grants and doing the work. She said that they have not put a structure or a container to it but that the conversation is much broader than 7 people. She said that the challenges that come from institutions to do systemic change is that those who have been burned do not want to trust or be a part of the systems that have previously harmed them. She said that it is hard for people to engage. She said that they need to come up with creative ways to engage everyone. She said that for research and best practices, she looks to the Baltimore, MD and Austin, TX models are good ones to mirror. Commissioner Fowler asked if there are people with lived experience on the Food Council. Ashley Heger said yes. She said that the Food Council used to be a majority with lived experience and majority non-white, but that is no longer the case. She said additional supports are needed. Commissioner Fowler asked how those seven positions are filled. Ashley Heger said those seven positions are at large members and are meant to represent the full food system. Chair Price asked if there are specific spots for those with lived experience. Ashley Heger said they have one and that is the food access practitioner. She said that Chapel Hill required that they hold a space for a food access provider. She said they tweaked the language and changed it to a practitioner. Commissioner Hamilton said this was helpful to understand the challenge faced by the Food Council over the last few years. She said that she is learning towards not supporting the MOU and considering what structure would work for them. She said issues are so integrated, they need to find another way of tackling it. She said that she realized that the structure does not feel transparent. Commissioner Bedford said the MMC (Managers, Mayors, and Chairs) group is meeting next Friday, and the various MOUs are on the agenda. She said it might be good to let that meeting happen and then bring this back. Bonnie Hammersley said she would suggest that it comes back after Chapel Hill has the presentation on December 7. Commissioner Bedford said this could be a topic at an Assembly Governments Meeting. Commissioner McKee said he thinks it will be unmanageable. Chair Price said she agreed with Commissioner McKee. Chair Price thanked Ashley Heger for her work with the Food Council. Ashley Heger thanked the Board for their support.