HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Spokane Food Access Coalition

Who are we?

The Spokane Regional Health District leads the Food Access Coalition (FAC) whose goal is to increase access to healthy food for all. Members include Washington State University Extension, Second Harvest Inland Northwest, Catholic Charities, restaurant owners, a hospital, a grocery store, the YMCA and local farmers. At least two current members are low income.

• Mission: The Food Access Coalition through respectful collaboration with businesses, agriculture, legislative, education, and environmental partners, empowers the community to plan and sustain a healthy food system.

• Vision: To live in a healthy community that prioritizes regional food production and consumption.

• Values: Equity, Health, Environment, Collaboration, Nutrition, Respect, and Education

Creating a Healthy, Equitable, and Sustainable Food System in Spokane County

What are we doing?

The FAC has been meeting for the past two years and overseeing the health district’s food assessment process, educating themselves on Spokane County’s food system, increasing awareness of local resources, and encouraging increased access to local foods.

	Development of the Food Policy Council
	Food and Health in Spokane County - An Overview
	Healthy Corner Store Toolkit
	The Spokane County Food Assessment - Land Use Chapter

When and where do we meet?

The Food Access Coalition meets the second Thursday of each month at The Community Building (3rd Floor Conference Room)at 35 W Main Ave. Meetings are from noon to 2pm with typically 15 to 25 members around the table sharing about what is happening with local food production, feeding the poor, progress on the Spokane County food assessment and opportunities to get involved in shaping food policy.

Everyone is welcome to attend our monthly Food Access Coalition Meetings. We are looking to attract representation from food processing, food waste management, business owners including food retailers, school nutrition program directors, City and County level policy makers and elected officials.

Please contact us and your name will be added to our distribution list.  We will alert you to trainings, conferences, monthly meetings, special food events and opportunites to become more involved in Spokane’s food system.

Past Guest Speakers & Workshops

Edible Landscaping Workshop by Rosalind Creasy • June 18, 2010
Rosalind Creasy is a garden and food writer, photographer, and landscape designer with a passion for beautiful vegetables and ecologically sensitive gardening. Her first book, The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, which coined the term “Edible Landscaping,” won the Garden Writers Association's Quill and Trowel award and was hailed by The Wall Street Journal as the best garden book of 1982. Her Cooking From the Garden, published in 1988 won the Award of Excellence from the Garden Writers of America. Rosilind has also been published in national magazines, writes for the Los Angeles Times, Garden Design magazine, Gardening How-To magazine, and is a contributing editor for Country Living Gardener magazine. Rosalind’s latest publications are the award-winning ten-book Edible Gardening series.

Video clips from the presentation:

• Your Garden Comes Alive
• What Edible Landscaping Is
• The Best Soils
• Pushing Vegetables To The Curb
• Planting Flowers With Vegetables
• The History Of Edible Gardens
• The Garden Creation Process
• Edibles In A Landscape
• 100 Square Foot Garden

2007-2009 Columbia River Gorge – Community Food Assessment by Sarah Hackney

Highlights from the Assessment