Leveraging Public Assets
to Increase Healthy
Food Access in
Montgomery County
Lindsay Smith, AICP
Assumptions
Four Ideas
Left: Residents gather with County Executive Ike Leggett,
Sanford Slavin, and friends, for the inaugural spring planting
of a new garden at Halpine Hamlet, a Montgomery
Housing Partnership property in Rockville.
Photos: Montgomery County Office of the County Executive
Food & Agriculture White
Paper
2015 Speakers Series
Farm to Table Strategy
Pilot a New Food Access
Innovation(s)
Above: Thank You Farmers collaborative
chalk mural and senior shoppers from the
Crossroads Farmers Market in Takoma Park,
MD. Photos: Crossroads Farmers Market
Assumptions
Public assets are more than
parks, roads, schools, etc. -
they also include knowledge
and information
Good food is essential to
good health
Local/regional food systems
planning necessary to build
more resilient communities
Above: County Planning Areas. From:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/
Left: Image developed by Kimberly
Hodgson. From: Funders Network for Smart
Growth and Livable Communities Investing In Healthy,
Sustainable Places Through Urban Agriculture
Assumptions
There are tremendous
opportunities to use a
food systems
perspective to
transform places
Above left: CSA pick-up at Rocklands Farm. Bottom left:
Farmer expo at Farm Bureau Fall 2013 Farm to Table
Dinner. Photos: Cristina Frey, Montgomery County resident and Food
Council member
Food & Agriculture
White Paper
Gather data
Completed plans, studies,
recent legislation, key
presentations
Lists of stakeholders (many!)
and available data
Consider inventory of County
government support for the local
food system to illuminate existing
investments
The scope of Montgomery Countys farm
productivity results in some interesting
facts, County farms produce
Enough milk to provide residents 1/3
cup of milk daily;
Enough beef for each resident to have
13 pounds per year;
Enough grain for every resident to
have 1-1/2 slides of bread per day;
Enough vegetables to supply each
resident with 13 pounds per year;
Enough peaches and apples to supply
each resident with 2 pounds per year.
p. 21, Preservation of Agriculture & Rural Open Space
Functional Master Plan. Approved & Adopted 1980
Placeholder for Amandas slides
Note: Maps that
follow are from
the April 2013
Montgomery
County Food
Council
meeting
presentation
Placeholder for Amandas slides
Placeholder for Amandas slides
Left: Learning, working, and having a meal at the
Button Farm Living History Center in
Germantown.
Photos: Button Living History Center
Food & Agriculture
White Paper
Analyze themes and key
questions including:
History, missing
perspectives, outstanding but
relevant recommendations
How do local access
challenges manifest
themselves?
What issues need to
considered in a State or
regional context?
2015 Speaker
Series: Food
Identify topics from white paper
findings and feedback received
Include diverse perspectives
and speakers
Above: Volunteers at work prepping and
freezing fresh organic produce for Farm
to Freezer in 2013. Photos: Cheryl Kollin, Full
Plate Ventures
Farm to Table
Strategy
Consider a strategic plan with:
Discrete, measurable goals
Clear strategies around public
assets which also consider
equity
Recommendations for the
roles that different
stakeholders can play in
implementation
Provisions for relating to
neighboring or regional plans
Above: Potential sources of inspiration
for a farm to table strategy from Vermont
and from Virginia.
Pilot a New Food
Access
Innovation(s)
Leverage a public asset to:
Lure and/or develop a
unique business or needed
service at a strategic
location
Create a new form of
community garden, a public
orchard, etc.
Demonstrate some other
functional design
intervention
The 2012 Takoma/Langley Crossroads
Plan calls for redevelopment of Takoma
Park Recreation Center pictured above.
Potential site for an interim and/or
permanent pilot of a new garden
typology? Public orchard or edible
landscaping?
Leveraging a Public
Asset at a Strategic
Location
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Profitable private
markets on public land
Offer healthy, fresh food
at affordable prices
Located throughout the
city, including at four
major transit nodes
How would you like to
see Montgomery
County build on its
public assets to
improve healthy food
access for all,
including those that
may need it most?
Acknowledgements
Above: Edible landscaping in Dupont
Circle in the planter strip and public ROW
