November 2017

FYI: I get this message: "The form has become outdated. Copy any unsaved work in the form below." Only 2 of the 3 candidates for council I supported this year won. All of the candidates are good folk and the winners will serve Chapel Hill well. Here are the election results for the last 4 cycles (eight years.) Voters can vote for up to 4 candidates for the Town Council. I ran and lost in 2013 which was the year with the lowest turnout: only 63% of this year's turn out. However, only about 17.5% voted this year. This is still a much lower rate than my hometown of Tiffin, Ohio.

2017 (about 7324 ballots)

Hongbin Gu 5,883 20.1%

Karen Stegman 5,684 19.4%

Allen Buansi 5,410 18.5%

Rachel Schaevitz 5,076 17.3%

Ed Harrison 3,767 12.9%

Maria T. Palmer 2,821 9.6%

Carl Schuler 560 1.9%

Write-In (Miscellaneous) 95 0.3%

2011 (about 6134 ballots)

Donna Bell 4,227 17.13%

Jim Ward 3,991 16.18%

Lee Storrow 3,915 15.87%

Matt Czajkowski 3,790 15.36%

Jason Baker 3,384 13.72%

Jon Dehart 2,446 9.92%

Augustus Cho 1,575 6.38%

We do! The Orange County Food Council was started by individuals with the Town of Carrboro, Carrboro Farmers' Market, Orange County Department of Health, Orange County Extension, Camp Chestnut Ridge, UNC, Orange County Schools, and Orange County Office of Economic Development.

Food Policy Councils act as both forums for food issues and platforms for coordinated action, working across sectors such as farming and food insecurity and food waste, engaging with government policy and programs, grassroots/non-profit projects, local businesses, food workers, and those who eat food. Instead of many advocates working on the isolated symptoms of a failing food system, Food Policy Councils create the forum for coordinated action at the local level. As such, food councils do not provide direct service.

Food councils can be a bit nebullous. They can be administered at the city or county level or as a partnership between both. Here's a list of some of the activities that other food councils around the country have had success with: