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| A New Food InfrastructureThe Challenge: develop a food infrastructure that supports family farmers and provides healthy food to all Americans. Important Progressive: accomplishing this challenge will contribute directly and specifically to the progressive values embodied by Roosevelt's Statement of Principles With a dwindling and aging population, economic opportunities leaving for the cities, the big industrial farming corporations, or for abroad, and education and infrastructure crumbling, the farm belt is a shadow of its former self. At the same time, much of America is without healthy food. Grocery stores have been replaced by convenience stores, home made meals have been replaced by fast food or junk food, carcinogenic and hormonal industrial inputs are accumulating in our bodies, and obesity has become an epidemic, particularly among the poor. An economic revitalization that reestablishes the place of the small independent farmer as a producer of high-quality foods for Americans to consume would dramatically change the lived experience of both the rural family and the inner city dweller. Innovative We're looking for policy challenges where innovation is needed: where there isn't already a clear solution or best practices, but solutions can be developed creatively. Our goal is to develop options, not to lobby or advocate for a solution that is already known or to debate among several yes or no outcomes or pre-defined policy choices. Other organizations do the important work of debating and lobbying, that's just not our place in the process. So far, our policies have been based on promoting the total economic output of our farm communities, not on supporting the families that live there; and there are no substantial efforts at the government level to ensure that healthy food is distributed within our cities. If we took on this issue we woud own it. Feasible Approachable: given the level of research and discourse already available and given who else is working on the issue, college students with a range of experience levels and with varied types of expertise can contribute meaningfully to the debate and are likely to think of good ideas. We don't want something so technical only engineering majors can contribute to it, or something that is already dominated by another think tank or advocacy organization. Potential ideas include: Helping family farmers CommentsThis is a real popular topic these days and could be fit into larger initiatives around building a healthy environment. The idea of healthy environments is also something that could attract people involved with energy and urban planning On a meta level, my guess is we'll have one of the challenges be voting/democracy or something, one economic policy, one international, and one environmental -- out of three -- so things that combine environment and economic stuff or economic and international stuff is cool. I think this might be a narrow topic that should be broadened. If we want to focus on the environment (which I'm all for) we should word it to be a challenge about improving the way we meet our basic needs: food, water, and shelter. That might be more catchy and streamlined and would still encompass lots of good environmental policy options. That's actually incredibly brilliant -- i don't know if we want to dilute the housing one, but food, water, and housing is kind of brilliant. |
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