County Government & the Food System: Community Reportbacks from Whatcom Food Network Spring Interns
Introduction:
This Spring, Whatcom Food Network expanded our partnership with Western Washington University to host three Environmental Studies students who were interested in the intersections of policy and food justice. For 10 weeks, Cypress, Suzanne, and Zach supported us in doing research to update our mapping of organizations working in the food system (forthcoming!), outreach to support the Food System Committee’s annual report to County Council, and attending local advisory committee meetings that intersect with food policy.
Below are three brief reports that they have drafted to share about what has been happening in several of the county advisory committees that contribute to food policy in our community. For the average person, there are many barriers to participation in county government processes and meetings. The county website is confusing to navigate, meeting times conflict with work and childcare schedules, and the notes (minutes) are frequently not posted until weeks or even months after the live session. We hope through sharing these brief updates, that we can help keep our community more informed and up to date.
An informed and engaged community is essential to building and sustaining an equitable and sustainable food system! If you agree, and would like to contribute, the network is currently looking for volunteers to attend local meetings and contribute to regular community reportbacks. Please contact me at rhys@whatcomfoodnetwork.org if you are interested in participating.
Rhys
Community Reportbacks:
The May Food Systems Committee meeting started off with roll call and approval of the last meetings’ minutes. I was very interested in the Food Systems Committee, so I’m glad I got to attend the meeting. Much like at the latest Climate Impact Action Committee (CIAC) meeting, and I’m sure for many others in government right now, there was concern about the current budget cuts in the federal government that are affecting all of us.
One of the first announcements was from Noelle Beecroft, who works with SNAP-Ed. She informed the meeting that SNAP-Ed is one of the latest victims of budget cuts, and her current position working with them would soon be terminated. This cut in funding, along with the recent cut to Americorp funding is threatening to leave a gap in our food systems here in Bellingham. This is because the main other form of education around food provided in this way comes from Common Threads, who used to have Americorp employees.
Along with the uncertainty with budget cuts, members of the Food Systems Committee were concerned about the recent uptick in ICE raids in our community. One of the people being detained is Alfredo ‘Lelo’ Juarez, an important farmworker organizer in the Whatcom community. Sean Hopps, the Labor Representative on the committee brought this up and said that previously, they were able to get a lot of valuable information from him about the workers and their need in our food system.
The meeting of the Whatcom County Food System Committee is June 17th from 4:30-6:00pm. As of this publication the minutes from May 20th, and agenda to the June 17th meeting have not yet been posted, but can be found on the Food System Committee webpage once they are available.
The Climate Impact Advisory Committee’s April meeting started with introducing the committee’s newest member, Josh Williams, who specializes in solar power and works with Silfab Solar. The meeting then shifted to various updates on climate-related issues, which included a commute trip reduction code amendment, a future planning commission hearing on expanding transmission capacity, and an upcoming stakeholder meeting for the Lake Whatcom Forest Management Plan. Focus then moved to the climate planning process for Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan. Committee members are in the process of adding comments to each chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, although some members are still waiting for certain chapters to be released. Climate Action Manager Lauren Clemens then provided an overview of the Whatcom County Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Study and the Electric Vehicle Charging Implementation Roadmap. She discussed a recent study that suggests installing more EV charging stations provides economic benefits for local businesses, alongside the implied environmental benefits.
Given the volatile state of federal funding under our current administration, CIAC’s May meeting took a slightly more discouraging tone. Councilmember Katie Galloway started with discussing various cuts in federal funding that will impact Whatcom County, which included cuts to FEMA disaster relief and grant funding. In this state of uncertainty, she emphasized the importance of remaining ambitious in regards to achieving policy goals while also being pragmatic. Lauren Clemens then followed up on last month’s electric vehicle presentation, informing the committee that electric vehicle tax credits are being rescinded by the federal government as well. This will likely have a negative impact on Whatcom County’s electric vehicle charging implementation plan that was discussed last month. Later on, Bob Mitchell discussed the Lake Whatcom Watershed Forest Management Plan, in which Whatcom County Parks & Rec is partnering with Bellingham Public Works department to develop a comprehensive forest management plan for preserves over 20 acres. The next order of business was to go over future committee tasks for 2025. The main task was adding comments and revisions to the 2026 Climate Action Plan. Committee members began to divide the sections amongst themselves, and they set a goal to have every committee member assigned to each section by the end of July. After attending these meetings, I really began to realize how incredibly slow everything moves, especially because there are so many moving parts and so many different people involved in local government processes. I was also surprised to see how many members of the public were present, especially for May’s meeting.
The meeting of the Climate Impact Advisory Committee is June 12th from 5:30-7:30pm. As of this publication, the minutes from May 15’s meeting, and agenda to the June meeting have not yet been posted, but can be found here once they are available.
During the Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting on May 14th, 2025, the members discussed the impacts of agricultural zoning codes on farmers. Bedlington Potatoes in Lynden is looking to construct a building on their property, but they are facing barriers due to zoning codes. The building is not considered agriculturally related as dictated by the zoning code, so it is prevented from being built on the property.
The committee discussed the importance of changing the zoning code for agricultural land to benefit farmers and meet their needs. Committee members expressed that the people working for the county do not show an understanding of how zoning laws can best reflect farmers’ needs. This discussion raises the question of how we can amend zoning codes in a way that provides freedom to build on agricultural land for the benefit of farmers, while also protecting farmland from development.
Another topic that was brought up was the approval for the Port of Bellingham to buy Boxx Berry Farms and lease it for agricultural research. This land has been for sale for a number of years, and the Economic Development Investment Fund was recently approved to be used to buy the farm, but has not yet been finalized. Farm successions are often a difficult problem, and the farm being bought by the Port of Bellingham will be an interesting and unique model.
After discussing these recent developments, the committee moved on to updates on special projects. On March 15, the committee gave a presentation for the County Council about basic needs for agricultural support. The follow-up letter to the County Council is still being drafted, but it will include an invitation to the fall committee meeting, and will address the effects of tariffs that are currently being imposed.
Next, the committee reviewed the draft of the Environmental Impact Statement for the 2025 Comp Plan. They went over the resource land map that was included in the impact statement, and they noted that some areas marked as “sustainability study areas” were out of place.
It was also noted by a member of the county council participating in the meeting that the county has been exploring a potential easement for taking on flood ground near the Nooksack River. The Conservation Easement Program Oversight Committee has been discussing this idea.
The committee also addressed the expansion of city zoning into farmland. There is potential to mitigate this by downsizing other zones in order to protect farmland in other areas.
After discussing updates on special projects, the topic moved to staff and member updates. This May meeting was the last meeting of the season before meetings start up again in October. Over the summer, there will be subcommittee meetings for staff support, and unplanned meetings can be called if there are decisions that need to be made.
Lastly, the committee discussed their struggles with record-keeping. Recording the meetings is helpful for those who cannot attend, but digital recordings can no longer be kept because of the excessive file storage. Prior to the county deciding to limit digital recordings, it was easiest for the committee to take notes by rewatching recorded meetings. Some suggested solutions were to have a designated note-taker during meetings or to upload the recordings to YouTube. The Forestry Advisory Committee and Conservation Easement Program Oversight Committee have found using YouTube to be a helpful solution for people who can’t attend the meeting. However, the committee expressed concerns about transparency when the public can easily access the committee meetings that are uploaded on YouTube, but have a harder time accessing the meetings that are not on YouTube. Some suggested alternatives to posting videos online were using AI transcription tools during the meetings or using a separate recording device. The committee discussed these options for record-keeping, but did not reach a solution at this meeting.
The next regular Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting will be October 8th, 2025 from 2:00-4:00pm. As of this publication, the minutes from May 14’s meeting, and agenda to the October meeting have not yet been posted to the County Agenda Center.
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