Cleveland Incentivising Local Food

Caption: Poached Egg and hollandiase sauce smothering local sweet potato, mushrooms, and peppers. Local Harvest Cafe on Morganford in South St. Louis serves up tasty dishes with local foods.

The City of Cleveland has instituted a policy to promote local foods, offering certified “local sustainable businesses” a 5 percent discount on city contracts.

Green City Blue Lake reports that the incentive will offer a “huge advantage” because most city contracts are decided by less than 5 percent.

The legislation, however, won’t apply to the largest consumer, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Still, city officials hope the policy will help stimulate a “self-help economy” and promote sustainability.

The idea emerged out of Cleveland’s newly established Office of Sustainability and is linked to the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Food Policy Coalition. Here is the St. Louis Region, the Healthy Youth Partnership is forming a food policy council with leadership from MU Extension, Congressman Russ Carnahan's office, Gateway Greening, St. Louis University, Trailnet, and many more partners.

Read the full story here:
http://www.gcbl.org/blog/marc-lefkowitz/cleveland-adopts-local-food-incentives