Food Planning in San Antonio Tomorrow Plan History and Theory of Urban and Regional Planning

Questions

The Goal explained by the SA Tomorrow plan is “Healthy food, health services, health literacy, and proven education programs are easily accessible to all residents, regardless of location, income, age, race, ethnic background or ability level” (COSA, 2015). This plan supports what San Antonio is doing in terms of food planning and improving equity. Access to healthy foods has been a growing concern including easily accessible options for adequate transportation. As planners, it is our job to empower those who have knowledge of the community and create easy access to an active and healthy lifestyle. “A critical strategy will be to encourage the development of grocery stores offering healthy, natural foods along with farmers markets, community gardens, and other amenities within ¼ to ½ mile walking distance of all neighborhoods”. The first step is to locate the city's food deserts which in turn help target the communities that need extra support and implement policies that reinforce the development of affordable healthy food options. The SA Tomorrow plan enforces Brook’s thoughts that planners should be “serving advocates for equity, social justice, environmental quality” (Brooks, 2017). As food equity can be viewed as a wicked problem, “decision-makers engage in ‘reconstructive- analysis’ that is, ends are adjusted to means as well as vice versa; the problem is continually defined, as a result potentially impossible problems are rendered manageable”.

The question remains: How are planners implementing equitable food policies from the SA Tomorrow Plan?

Methods

First, to begin to answer this question one must review and apply the health and wellness policies and goals that are outlined in the SA Tomorrow plan. They are as follows: “(1) Evaluate and develop a plan to address food desert neighborhoods, (2) Implement policies to increase accessibility and affordability of healthy food options (natural grocery stores, natural and/or organic sections in grocery stores, school programs, farmer’s markets, community gardens and urban agriculture/retail opportunities) within walking distance of all neighborhoods (1/4 to 1/2 mile depending on amenity), (3) Implement policies to promote education about nutrition and healthy foods and create programs to disincentivize unhealthy, highly processed and “fast” foods and/or incentivize nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods in new and creative ways, (4) Revise zoning requirements and guidelines for the Urban Agricultural District to allow edible landscapes and supportive produce retail” (COSA, 2015). For this case study, I am assessing how San Antonio utilizes the Food Policy Council of San Antonio to help reach these goals and the SA Tomorrow Plan Open House Kick-Off Summary which gives insight to what the communities want. Food planning policies and goals should be considered through the lens of social justice, June Manning Thomas emphasizes that social justice is "referred to the need to plan for the 'disadvantaged' and the 'urge the alteration of policies and institutions and decisions which oppose such needs" (Thomas, 2012) I believe with this notion that poor food planning is a social injustice, it could help this plan move quickly to meet the needs of communities and help close the gap in food insecurity.

Second, we will review and analyze the SA Tomorrow Plan Open House Kick off summary. This was the first of many community engagement opportunities regarding the SA Tomorrow plan. According to the summary, participants put down that they wanted to see “locally grown food, mobile groceries, home-grown food” in what they would like to see in future communities and neighborhoods. “Fresh food is simply hard to find in some areas: 40% of the counties urbanized population lived at least one mile from a grocery store and the number of farmers markets decreased by 26% between 2009 and 2013 while they increased in both Texas and the US” (COSA, 2015).

Lastly, we will review and analyze the San Antonio Food Policy Council initiatives, which supports my second method above. The encouragement of farmers markets can also be found in the Food Policy Council of San Antonio, as their vision is “healthy, fresh, affordable food to all, in a vibrant local economy” (Food Policy Council of San Antonio, n.d.). The council “brings together concerned citizens with subject matter experts to establish policy, generate ideas, develop solutions, build partnerships and have a voice in the community for these important issues revolving around food”. They are implementing the promotion of healthy food, education of native plants and their health benefits, and creating food forests that communities can look after that is accessible and tailored to their specific food needs/wants. Zoning for agriculture should be viewed as “Centralized Control” that recommended putting every aspect of urban development in the hands of planners offering “the central viewpoint” who would “take, beyond the cavil of petty politics or local interest, the community standpoint” (Talen, 2009). As planners go into neighborhoods to discuss urban agriculture or the education of healthy food items it is important to have these engagements knowing where this community is coming from and meeting them halfway in these matters, regardless of politics. Community health should be viewed without bises and politics, it is for the whole of the community, but not mistaken with utilitarian ideas.

The methods used to examine this case were:

1. Review and apply health and wellness policies and goals in the SA Tomorrow plan
2. Review and analyze the SA tomorrow Plan Open House Kick-Off Summary
3. Review and analyze the San Antonio Food Policy Council initiatives

Findings

The San Antonio Food Policy Council is a strong element in the Alamo city that fights for accessible food and healthy food. One example they have is the food forest project called Tamox Talom, the goal of this project is to be a “local habitat that mimics the native ecosystem and patterns found in nature” (Food Policy Council of San Antonio, n.d.). This project empowers locals to come plant and maintain this 4-acre property and promote equity in healthy food. Further supporting equity in food planning, here are some of the values that are core to the project “always centers community strength, voice, and culture throughout the planning and building process. This means always prioritizing accessibility, both in planning and site design, and the well-being of the community surrounding the site itself is one of the highest concerns for project planners” (Food Policy Council of San Antonio, n.d.).The food forest is a huge win in San Antonio and supports the policy and goals that are set out by the SA Tomorrow plan. The Food Policy Council fulfills the second goal the SA Tomorrow plan has set into place "Implement policies to increase accessibility and affordability of healthy food options (natural grocery stores, natural and/or organic sections in grocery stores, school programs, farmer’s markets, community gardens and urban agriculture/retail opportunities) within walking distance of all neighborhoods (1/4 to 1/2 mile depending on amenity)" (COSA, 2015). As the San Antonio Food Policy Council encourages farmers' markets it could also happen by the community themselves if they had a food forest. This could lead to DIY Urbanism, communities taking over a briefly unattended lot until they are unable to harvest there, “while DIY urbanism has been energized by economic recession and a “right to the city” spirit of guerrilla tactics, it is also rooted in a deeper tradition of self-help urban activism” (Talen,2015). This is a method of a form of urban improvement that many citizens from all different backgrounds did to make a city more livable and enjoyable. Planners should pay special attention to DIY Urbanism as it was occurring before urban planning was a profession. All activities done are to beautify the city and make small-scale improvements from bottom up without the direct involvement of the government.

The food forest project is community-based, the residents come and take care of the food-bearing plants while also adding new vegetation they want to see being grown near the already existing irrigation system. As one digs into the metrics of the makeup of the communities in San Antonio, the population percentage that is Latino is about 64.7% according to Datausa, further, we can connect Latino place-making and incremental construction. “In many Latino neighborhoods, housing is limited, precarious, or simply not affordable” (Gisuti & Olivares, 2012). When housing is a scarcity and in a low-income area, one is most likely to find food deserts. These communities “combine uses of private spaces (both residential and retail) that foster strong social networks and the efficient use of space” (Gisuti & Olivares, 2012). These practices “are now part of a planning agenda to promote livable communities and are even offered as examples of a particular type of Latino New Urbanism”(Gisuti & Olivares, 2012). This is the fabric to implement equity in food planning and to also promote healthy and sustainable neighborhoods in San Antonio.

Future Scenarios of Food Planning in San Antonio

Business as Usual

Business as usual in food planning and policy in San Antonio will result in the climbing number of health problems San Antonians face due to a lack of access to healthy and affordable food. The Food Policy Council of San Antonio will remain not included in the SA Tomorrow plan, even though there is a strong indication from their mission statement an “organization dedicated to addressing a root cause of an unhealthy food system and helping people work for the food environment they want to have” (Food Policy Council of San Antonio, n.d.). They would be well paired to meet the SA Tomorrow Goal One, “Healthy food… is easily accessible to all residents, regardless of location, income, age, race, ethnic background or ability level” (City of San Antonio, 2015). The plan refers to policies that do not accompany specific goals but instead are grouped by common themes. The policies outlined are “Evaluate and develop a plan to address food desert neighborhoods, implement policies to increase accessibility and affordability to healthy foods within walking distance of all neighborhoods, implement policies to promote education about nutrition and healthy foods and create programs to de-incentivize unhealthy, highly process and “fast” foods and/or incentivize nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods in new and creative ways, Identify important farmlands for the production of healthy foods in the San Antonio vicinity and protect them from development using zoning, subdivision, and other regulatory or incentive-based tools, and lastly revise zoning requirements and guidelines for the Urban Agriculture District to allow edible landscapes and supportive produce retail”. While this plan lays out the why and how it does not share what has become of these policies. The SA Tomorrow plan cannot continue in the business-as-usual fashion, the plan will struggle if it does not make a strong connection to a strong food policy that enables better food planning in the urban core. The SA Tomorrow plan mentions “to be successful and truly address the long-term issues facing San Antonio, the comprehensive plan has to tackle those difficult questions that arise from an honest assessment of our community’s challenges and clearly state the hard choices we must make to achieve the community’s vision for the future”. San Antonio’s plan before this one was written in 1997, which is only an 18-year span, this in turn does not connect to Longtermism nor the Seven Generations model. As the Seven Generations model is the “heart of sustainability”, this method should strongly be asserted in the plan for it to be successful as we are planning for our future generations while our past can also provide us great knowledge of historic food deserts or food injustices that were ongoing.

Advanced Climate Change

Urban agriculture has to blossom and evolve for San Antonio by 2060 we need to be producing 70% more food than what we are able to now. To achieve this goal and help avoid the disparities of our climate, urban farming and policy should support futuristic farming technology that can utilize robots that can measure water levels and temperature to (1) make farming less of a financial burden and (2) make it more efficient and safe. The SA Tomorrow plan is taking climate planning only to the year 2047 and even states “ participation in larger sustainability efforts is critical because local environmental and economic issues are part of a broader regional, national, and global context” (City of San Antonio, 2015). As climate change is imminent, San Antonio should embrace outside-the-box thinking, as longtermism brings us “to taking seriously just how big the future could be and how high the stakes are in shaping it” (MacAskill,2022). As the globe warms we need to be prepared to plant accordingly and be knowledgeable of climate predictions, in Texas we will be experiencing warmer winters but also will have cold snaps that oftentimes kill plants. We can combat this by growing our foods by the seasons in which they are best growing or find ways to grow agriculture inside. If our city does not encourage new farming methods and give our local farmers possibly the education of where the climate is headed led by industry experts we could better plan and be knowledgeable about our changing climate.

Future of Food Planning in San Antonio

In 2200, there will be roof gardens and community gardens that are successful as they focus on native healthy plants and vegetables that thrive here in Texas. The next Comprehensive plan for San Antonio will have an emphasis on green food policy and incentives to farmers that invest in top-of-the-line energy saving and more efficient methods of farming. Old blighted buildings/areas located in known low access and availability to healthy foods, repurposed and designated to lovely gardens that will have the full support of the neighborhood and that rely on intergenerational relationships to keep growing the food for the next harvest. What speaks to these futuristic gardens is “despite the fact that the individuals who initiated it did not live to see its completion, the ensuing generations never strayed from the vision” (Jojola 2013). While food policy and planning can be assisted by governmental entities via monetary means, the community can also be of service to utilize a strategic system to ensure food equity and scarcity will be improved or non-existent. Revolutionary food is also in the forecast from meat grown in labs to help curb global warming, to Algae farming. Vertical farming will also be the standard as booming Food Innovation Districts are popping up. These food labs/vertical farms will be required to be net-zero buildings placed in the (FID), this district's zoning will be form-based zoning to keep the aesthetic and to make it a destination for job growth in STEM and Urban food planning. As technology advances our planning practice will advance as well. There will be support from industry experts in the field of new methods of food planning and policy to guide our decisions that will then shape our future for the next 1000 years.

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References

Brooks, M. P. (2017). Planning theory for practitioners. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351179454

City of San Antonio, (2015). SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sacompplan.com/new_docs/SA_CompPlan_FULLDoc_Final_9-26-16_lowres.pdf

DATAUSA:SA ANTONIO (2020). Diversity https://datausa.io/profile/geo/san-antonio-tx/#demographics

Food Policy Council of San Antonio, (n.d) Tamōx Talōm. https://www.foodpolicysa.org/initiatives/urban-agriculture/food-forest/

Gisuti, C., & Olivares, M. (2012). Latinos and Incremental Construction: A case study of Texas colonias. In Diálogos: Placemaking in Latino Communities. Routledge

Jojola, T. (2013). Indigenous Planning: Towards a Seven Generations Model. In David C. Natcher, Ryan Christopher Walker, & Theodore S. Jojola (Eds.), Reclaiming Indigenous planning. McGillQueen’s University Press.

MacAskill, W. (2022, August 5). The Case for Longtermism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/the-case-for-longtermism.html

SA Tomorrow Open House Kick-off Summary: Comprehensive plan (2015). chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://downtown.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IDADAA19_MIG_SATomorrow_KickOffSummary.pdf

June Manning Thomas. (2012). Social Justice as Responsible Practice: Influence of Race, Ethnicity, and the Civil Rights Era. In Planning Ideas That Matter (p. 359–). The MIT Press.

Talen, E. (2009). Design by the rules: The historical underpinnings of form-based codes. Journal of the American Planning Association, 75(2), 144–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360802686662

Talen, E. (2015). Do-it-Yourself Urbanism: A History. Journal of Planning History, 14(2), 135–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538513214549325