| Mayor Drekmeier's plans were announced in Monday's 45-minute State of the City address.
Here's the video:
http://www.communitymediacente...
The details of his agenda still have to be hashed out and will presumably need City Council approval. But it's clear that sustainable food policy (an issue rarely discussed in municipal government) is one of the keystones, as reported by Palo Alto Online:
He urged residents to conserve energy by relying on farmers from within the city's "foodshed" -- a 100-mile radius -- and backed an effort by Councilmember Yoriko Kishimoto and local consulting firm, IDEO, to bring weekday farmers markets to the city.
He also called for more organic and locally grown food at the City Hall cafeteria.
"My dream is for it to become Palo Alto's little secret," Drekmeier said. "When you have friends in town and they want to go to a good restaurant, you take them to the Palo Alto cafeteria," eliciting laughter from those familiar with the basement space under City Hall.
The Mercury News provided additional information:
Plans to revamp the city's compost operation are already in the works. The city council last week named a nine-member task force to investigate new technologies such as the "dry fermentation" process Drekmeier mentioned Monday. That process, which is already in use in some parts of the world, would convert green waste, food waste and even sewage sludge into compressed natural gas.
The farmers market could be the first of the major proposals to come to fruition. City Manager Keene has been in talks about it with the local design firm IDEO, which has taken to holding its own markets on Wednesdays because the only other ones in Palo Alto are on weekends. Drekmeier said the city is hoping to launch a weekday market in front of City Hall as early as Earth Day.
If all goes well, Drekmeier said, he imagines farmers coming to Palo Alto to sell their organically produced goods, then heading to the new waste facility to pick up compost and refuel their vehicles with compressed natural gas.
As the plans are crystallized, I expect lively discussion at the city's new Open City Hall website and via the city's Twitter account.
Regardless of the ultimate level of success of Mayor Drekmeier's green revolution, it helps to illustrate that municipal governments have a lot of power to promote sustainable agriculture and other sound environmental practices. Indeed, there's an amazing organization devoted to helping local officials realize that potential: Local Governments for Sustainability (which is conducting a World Congress in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, this June).
Moreover, a neighbor of Palo Alto - the City of East Palo Alto - has forged an impressive public-private partnership, the East Palo Alto Community Farmers' Market project, despite much fewer resources. |
