In August 2009, the first Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit was held by Mayor Frank G. Jackson bring together hundreds of people interested in applying the principles of sustainability to the design of the local economy. The goal of the summit was to create a vision for a 10-year campaign for “building an economic engine to empower a green city on a blue lake” by the 50th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire, which will be in 2019.
One outcome of the summit was to create “Celebration points” for each year, so that the community can participate in making sustainable changes and choices in our households, neighborhoods, businesses, and institutions. The points are also designed to align with city initiatives and other community events.
For 2012 the theme of Local Foods is the Celebration Point which corresponds with the 100th anniversary of the West Side Market.
There are several groups that formed out of the Sustainable Cleveland Summit that are working to support local food. One of these is Growhio, a non-profit group whose mission is to strengthen and support the local food economy in NE Ohio through branding, marketing and collaboration. Another is the the Community Kitchen Incubator Project, which aims to create community kitchen(s) and a incubator to foster entrepreneurship, educational opportunities and promotion of sustainable food production and preservation at a shared commercial kitchen incubator facility. One ambitious project is called 10,000 farmers, which is a initiative to support and mobilize 10,000 new farmers in 10 years in Northeast Ohio.
2012 will be the year of Local Foods with lots of workshops, community events, and activities in the Cleveland area. To get involved, or learn more about the 2019 Local Food projects you can goto localfoodcleveland.org.
Image Source:
Local Food Cleveland
Links:
Local Food Cleveland Working Group