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Consultant updates Planning Commission on Tumwater food-system plan; targeted survey launched
Summary
Contractor Rebecca Potasnik briefed the Tumwater Planning Commission on outreach, scope limits and next steps for a city food-system plan; staff and commissioners discussed priorities and community connections. A targeted 15-question survey of about 69 invitees was issued the same day.
Rebecca Potasnik, the consultant contracted to prepare a food-system plan for the city of Tumwater, told the Planning Commission on Feb. 11 that she has conducted interviews and stakeholder outreach since August 2024 and has launched a targeted survey of roughly 69 invitees to gather more input.
Potasnik said the work so far has focused on making the project manageable within the contract’s time and budget limits and balancing outreach across sectors. “The scope of the project…has constraints of time and money,” she said, and that guided a targeted, open-ended survey design to solicit substantive responses.
Commissioners and staff pressed for clarity about what the city can do versus regional or county responsibilities. Commissioner Kirkpatrick said the commission wants recommendations on “the things the city can do” to improve food security and related outcomes. Rebecca and commissioners agreed the plan should both identify gaps the city can address and document issues outside city authority so residents see they were considered.
Commissioners and other participants suggested topic areas the plan should emphasize: food security programs, food-waste reduction and food rescue, support for local producers/ processors and small food-related businesses, and urban agriculture. Potasnik said she has spent more time so far with food-security stakeholders and is still reaching producers and processors, and asked commissioners to suggest additional contacts.
Potasnik described the survey as targeted and relatively long: 15 mostly open-ended questions intended for people likely to provide in-depth input. She reported six responses on the day the survey was released and invited commissioners to propose additional stakeholders for interviews or survey distribution.
Commissioners noted existing local efforts that the plan should acknowledge and build on — for example, participation with the Thurston County Food Bank and prior city-funded backyard garden programs — and urged the plan to highlight what is working so the city can sustain successful programs. Commissioners also discussed opportunities for small-scale urban agriculture, pop-up produce vendors, and how the plan might better connect food-system work to economic development and small-business support.
Potasnik said she will produce an assessment of current conditions and return with further draft material in April. Staff (Brad, deputy director, and Dana, planning staff) told the commission they expect an assessment to be available by the April meeting and that commissioners may provide follow-up items to Dana in the meantime.
Ending: Potasnik and staff thanked commissioners for direction and invited further contacts and suggestions; commissioners encouraged Commissioner-potentiated outreach and looked forward to reviewing the assessment in April.
