Invitation to Partner on Minneapolis Food Action Plan (MFAP) Community Engagement
The Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota and Homegrown Minneapolis at the City of Minneapolis, in collaboration with Terra Soma, are issuing an invitation to partner with 3-7 community-based organizations serving Minneapolis communities of color and American Indians. The goal of the partnership is to gain input on proposed Minneapolis Food Action Plan (MFAP) priorities. The MFAP will serve as a roadmap toward a more equitable, climate resilient, just and sustainable local food system and local food economy.
Minneapolis community-based organizations can apply for up to $2500 for each cultural community they would engage on the Minneapolis Food Action Plan. Selected organizations will obtain feedback from members of the African American, American Indian, East African, Latinx and Southeast Asian communities to help shape the Food Action Plan.
Resident priorities will be gathered through outreach and facilitation by community organizations with their cultural and geographically focused constituencies in a method that is safe and effective during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as online, phone or in-person.
Expectations:
Each organization will obtain input on plan priorities from at least 20 community members using a short set of prompts related to opinions on draft plan actions and strategies. Organizations will utilize a sign-in sheet and track total attendance and demographics such as age and cultural background. Participant names will not be shared in public reports or provided to the City and University.
Selected organizations will also ask community members to take a city-wide survey to provide additional feedback on the recommendations and priorities contained in the plan.
Participating organizations will be expected to use a Food Action Plan self-facilitation toolkit that provides questions to be asked along with guidelines and a final report template that will be submitted at the end of the engagement process. Terra Soma and other project partners will be available to answer questions on the toolkit and process.
To apply: please complete this brief proposal form indicating your organization’s ability and approach to meet expectations by the January 14 deadline. Please complete a form for each cultural community your organization would engage, if more than one.
Partnership Proposal Form deadline: December 3, 2021
Notification of partnership: December 10, 2021
Engagement is to be completed by January 14, 2022
About the project and partners: The Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, Homegrown Minneapolis staff and Food Council at the City of Minneapolis and Terra Soma are working together with funding from Princeton University to complete the Minneapolis Food Action Plan. Homegrown Minneapolis is a citywide initiative based in the Minneapolis Health Department designed to expand our ability to grow, process, distribute, eat and compost more healthy, sustainable, locally grown foods. For more information on this application process, please contact Joe Nowak (
nowak129@umn.edu).