Committee outlines events, college partnership and food‑system partnerships for 2025

Committee members used the Jan. 16 meeting to review upcoming programming, partnerships and community outreach plans for 2025, including a farmers market appearance, two school workshops, a Laredo College cohort partnership and donated materials from the South Texas Food Bank.

The committee’s program lead said the group plans to attend the first farmers market of the year on the coming Saturday and will run a two‑day workshop with kindergarten students from St. Augustine on Feb. 11 and 13 to teach children where food comes from. The lead reported continuing partnership work with Laredo College; the college contact said the committee will host a third cohort this semester to help with outreach and farmers market operations and to raise community awareness about the group’s mission.

Representatives from the South Texas Food Bank introduced themselves at the start of the meeting and staff reported a large donation of tulip bulbs and spring bulbs from a retail donor; committee volunteers have begun planting the bulbs at the organization’s demonstration spaces. The committee also said it is updating its website, plans to publish a seasonal planting calendar tied to the local growing cycle, and is considering activating an online donation option on its Wix site when they upgrade account services.

Members discussed the Food Policy Council and outreach misconceptions: a brief internal survey found some community members believe the council is by invitation only, but leaders said the Food Policy Council is an open coalition of public and private participants across the food system and that they intend to broaden participation. The committee also reported a recent workshop with Methodist Healthcare Ministries that drew roughly 40 attendees and several organizations that had not previously participated; the committee said this has increased interest and is expected to grow monthly participation.

On staffing and postings, committee members confirmed a program coordinator position will be posted; participants said the committee had previously approved posting the position and that it will be posted after the group’s meeting with the city next week to align with the budget and MOU timeline.

Ending: Committee members asked volunteers and partners to send lists of in‑kind donations and program invoices to the accounting consultant so the budget can be finalized; they also agreed to circulate outreach materials on social media once flyers and the website calendar are updated.