RAISE YOUR VOICE!
Help us grow more affordable nature/farm-based communities in Austin!
Austin/Travis County Food Plan goes to City Council Oct. 10 for adoption - sign up to speak!
The Austin/Travis County Food Plan is on the agenda for the October 10th Austin City Council Meeting [austintexas.gov]. In addition to plan adoption (Item 20), there is an additional item (Item 26) from Council to identify resources around implementation.
If you would like to sign-up to speak at the October 10th meeting, see information below on how to do so. The more the Mayor and Austin City Council hear from you, the more likely their support will be!
🗣 Signing up to speak on specific agenda items (Items 20 and 26)
Speaker registration for the October 10, 2024 Austin City Council Meeting opens, Monday, October 7 at 10:00 a.m.
Online registration window will open at 10 a.m. on the Monday before the meeting (Monday, October 7th at 10 a.m.) and close at noon the day before the meeting (Wednesday, October 9th at noon).
In-person speakers can register to speak using the City Hall atrium kiosks beginning shortly after noon the day before the meeting until 45 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to begin (the meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. so speaker sign up closes at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 10th for in-person speakers).
Public comment on agenda items will be allowed both in-person and remotely (by telephone).
Public comment will begin at 10 a.m. on October 10th
Requests for language interpretation service including American Sign Language must be emailed to City.Clerk@austintexas.gov 48 hours in advance of the meeting.
💻 Visit this site for more information on how to participate in a City Council meeting: https://www.austintexas.gov/services/participate-city-council-meeting
Item 20
Adopt the Austin/Travis County Food Plan, which was co-created with the community to set clear goals and strategies to move toward a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient food system.
Item 26
Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to identify and define leadership roles and responsibilities, as well as work with co-partners, to implement the Austin/Travis County Food Plan (Plan) including funding now and in the next fiscal year, and identify and prioritize Plan strategies to address racial inequities, displacement, food insecurity, food workers, and emergency preparedness.
Sponsors: Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, Council Member Alison Alter, Council Member José Velásquez, Council Member Zohaib ''Zo'' Qadri.
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Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 10:00 City of Austin Council considers agrihood resolution
Please speak out (either in person/virtually), not only so Austin will have
more beautiful, affordable productive places to live, but so we can
grow more local farmers. (Here’s more info on how to speak at City Hall)
We appreciate you sharing this flyer. The Council needs to hear your support!
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All Family Farms Need Support — Here’s How You Can Help Ours:
Fund Volunteer Program: Funds, tools, and publicity are needed. We have kept an open door to anyone who wants to learn since 2006 and thousands of students and visitors have learned on our farm. This requires extra cutting tools, wheelbarrows, gloves, supplies, administrative support and more, however, we receive no funding for our volunteer program. Donations of all kinds gratefully accepted.
Advocate for Solutions: Farmers need you to be more than a consumer, we need you to be advocates. Here’s why:
Central Texas is losing almost 17 acres of farmland EVERY DAY.
Farmers have no legal right to water in Texas
Prime farmland beside the Colorado River is being devoured by gravel mines and poorly planned development.
Your food security depends upon a strong network of local farmers. Investments are needed to create agricultural zones, grow new crop of farmers, and ensure farmers are mentored so they can better prepare for weather events.
There’s so much you can do: meet with your elected officials, serve on a water or land planning board, initiate a food policy council, join Texas’ Stewardship Amendment initiative to guarantee your legal right to clean air, water and land.
Buy more, often: Farmers require year round income in order to grow your food and flowers and to train the next generation of farmers. Please commit to allocating more of your budget to local, organic options. Encourage your friends to join a CSA, buy meat directly from a local farmer, and use a farmers’ market for weekly groceries not just outdoor entertainment.
Help in the office, tech support: Administrative, technical and organizational help is always appreciated. For instance, all of the farm’s newsletters/blogs were not transferred during our most recent website upgrade. We could use help finding and posting this info. Most importantly, we need help managing this Squarespace website!
Organize classes, special events: Us farmers hosted 11 events for the 120th birthday of our east Austin farmstead, November 11-12, 2023; hosted artists as part of Austin Studio Tour; held birthday parties; arranged yoga classes, farm-to-table dinners, and farm workshops; corporate events, and more…To continue to do all this, we need help with publicity, graphics, logistics, historical research, invitations, music, and more. Volunteers always welcome!