Toledo food policy manager outlines priorities, seeks council support for food-policy council and local programs

Mara Momony, the city of Toledo’s first food policy manager, told the Housing and Community Development Committee on Sept. 25 that her initial months on the job included a 56-interview listening tour and that she is asking council to support three priorities: the department’s budget request that includes funding for community catalyst projects, the creation of a Greater Toledo Food Policy Council and for the mayor to sign the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.

Momony summarized findings from more than 60 stakeholders and five themes she said will guide her first-year priorities: planning and collaboration; production; processing/distribution/markets; food access and nutrition; and sustainability. “These challenges…were shaped by decades of policy and planning decisions and therefore now require very intentional and coordinated leadership and policy solutions,” Momony said.

The timing of the work, she told council, is critical because of recent federal and state cutbacks affecting local food programs. She cited the recent termination of a Produce Perks Midwest award and broader USDA restructuring, saying those changes have strained programs and local supports. Momony also described a city-level agenda…