Drafter
Clerk 04/30/2010
Title
A MOTION requesting the executive to develop an implementation plan for creating and managing community gardens on King County owned property to grow fruits and vegetables for the purposes of improving public health, building community and addressing hunger.
Body
WHEREAS, economic conditions are creating a growing hunger crisis, and
WHEREAS, food banks across the nation have experienced an unprecedented increase in the demand for services, and
WHEREAS, Northwest Harvest reports a twenty seven percent increase in the number of meals served and visits to its network of food banks between March 2008 and March 2010, and
WHEREAS, according to recent United States Department of Agriculture figures and research from the American Dietetic Association, almost eighty percent of adults are not eating the recommended levels of fruits and vegetables, and
WHEREAS, low-income communities are more likely to lack access to fresh organic produce, and
WHEREAS, the county has adopted a Public Health Operational Master Plan to address nutrition related diseases such as obesity and diabetes, and
WHEREAS, the 2008 King County Comprehensive Plan directs the county to explore ways of creating and supporting community gardens, farmers markets, produce stands and other similar community-based food growing projects to provide and improve access to healthy food for all rural residents, and
WHEREAS, as demonstrated locally and in the White House vegetable garden, community gardens are a way to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern, and
WHEREAS, community gardens serve the nutritional needs of the community by providing produce for gardeners, food banks and others in need, and
WHEREAS, community gardening improves food security, neighborhood improvement, recreation and open space, and
WHEREAS, growing food locally has a positive impact on our region's ...

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