PSU issues new report on sustainable food systems in Ore., Wash.

Portland State is developing a strategy for sustainable food growth, processing and consumption in order to assess sustainable progress, after releasing a comprehensive report last week.

The report, issued by the university’s Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, was released last week in order to assess the level of progress in Oregon and Washington state’s sustainable food programs, according to Institute’s Director Sheila Martin.

All elements of a sustainable food system are connected, Martin said.

“Everything from the condition of the ground in which it’s grown, to the health impacts of how people eat and what they do with the waste is all part of the food system,” Martin said. “All of that is interconnected.”

The report includes information varying from the profitability of farming and the total number of food processors, Martin said. The importance of releasing the report is to compile information on all the interconnected elements-something that hasn’t been done before, she said.

“The thing that prompted it was this idea that we need a strategy for food system sustainability and in order to develop a strategy you need to have an idea of where we are now,” Martin said.

The issue of the report thrills Noelle Studer-Spevak, Sustainability Coordinator at Portland State.

“I’m so happy that PSU is partnering with Kaiser [Permanete] in this way for the health of our region,” Spevak said.

Martin also voiced another sustainability concern covered in the report.

“I think that part of the issue is that people are cooking less, so they don’t really know [if food is sustainable], and it’s hard to tell what they are eating,” she said.

One solution is a community garden movement, said Matt Bibeau, a Portland State alumnus with a master’s degree in Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning.

“It is really important that we try to support our local food economy,” Bibeau said. “This means that farmers receive the best money for their food and that we get healthy local food.”

Bibeau also said that school lunches in regional K-12 schools could have a huge impact.

“Lot’s of food is consumed in Portland, and all of Oregon-the Oregon legislature recently passed a bill with more of a focus on that connection,” Bibeau said. “We need to bring local food products into local schools.”

Doing so will also help local economy, he said.

“We can create more of a demand by feeding children the freshest food available, and farmers will be getting good money for their product,” Bibeau said.

Bibeau is currently working with Buckman Elementary School in Southeast Portland to create a community garden onsite in order to teach them how to grow their own fresh food.

The school garden gives the students an opportunity to learn not just where the food comes from, but also practical skills about the world they live in through that very accessible learning garden, he said.

Many parties were involved in creating the report, which was created with financial assistance from Kaiser Permanente, and the Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, Martin said. Community Food Matters, a local sustainable food initiative, also contributed with some preliminary work, she said.

Martin said stakeholders played a large part in the results of this report as well.

“Everybody from farmers and public health people, to food processors and distribution companies were involved,” Martin said. “Lots of different people who have a stake in the sustainable food system.”

The question that is often asked, Martin said, is “what comes next?”

At this point, it is critical that someone decides to participate in the development of a strategy, she said.

“If we have a regional strategy, then policy makers can look for that to guidance to see what people who are affected by this are interested in seeing happen,” Martin said.

Interested parties can view the full report, called Planting Prosperity and Harvesting Health: Trade-Offs and Sustainability In the Oregon-Washington Regional Food System, by visiting www.pdx.edu/ims.