Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with the Health Department to establish a Food Security Plan for communities impacted by the closures of grocery stores and make recommendations for inclusion in the inclusive economic recovery plan.
Bush and Kerry. Thank you. Item number 16, please. Hi. Item 16 is communication from Vice Mayor Richardson, Councilwoman Sunday and Councilwoman Allen. Recommendation. Recommendation to direct city managers to establish a food security plan for communities impacted by the closures of grocery stores. Q Vice Mayor Richardson. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I think it sounds like it's resolved the audio issue so quickly. The idea here is that food security is at an all time insecurities, an all time high right now, well, at the highest levels in generations, in fact, according to the Northwestern Institute of Policy Research. Nationwide, food insecurity has doubled overall and tripled among households with children as a result of this current economic crisis that we have on hand. A Long Beach has actually done a pretty good job since the pandemic. We began with our basic needs security work, and we were able to fund that with CARES Act, building significant capacity across town for delivering and expanding access to food, everything from pop up markets to pantries and even direct delivery of meals and direct delivery of groceries through nonprofits and local restaurants. We have, you know, most recently, we we went through the Heroes Act dilemma when Kroger announced that it may be closing two of its Long Beach grocery stores . This announcement comes at a time when our nation is again facing unprecedented levels of unemployment and food insecurity. And so we want to make sure that if this were to happen in April, we have a game plan on how we're going to provide food and enhance food security in the areas around food for us. I asked my my social work fellow to create this map because identifying where the, you know, access to food, the bodegas, the big box grocers, all of them exist around the food for less is true. Food for less is in my district, the one near South Street at the bottom. That's the one that's closing. Now around it, you see to the right the WinCo and food for left to the north, superior to the south. There's a number of big boxes surrounding it. It's had some issues. But if you go sort of north northwest, it's a big you know, it's a big gap in terms of access to food. And so what we need to do is make sure that we put we plan for it. We know that there may be a shock to the system if this grocery store closes. We can talk about long term plans and development, all those things. But I think our most immediate need is to ensure that the needs of the local residents are met. And so to offset the sudden economic shock that may be created, food shock by the closure of these grocery stores. We should prepare an equity informed food security recovery strategy, a food security plan, and this should be put in place to prevent further escalation of food insecurity in this fortunately impacted areas. Now, and my motion as written, I'm going to make that motion as written. But I will say I think there are many areas of uptown that could be areas that need additional attention with food security. Again, we built a lot of capacity care that I want to see what opportunity we have specifically around this area. But if there's other areas as well that may be impacted by closure of grocery stores or lack of grocery store, we need to be intentional about calling out what our food security plan is and making sure that that is as a part of our ongoing inclusive recovery plan that the city council directed staff to work on last December. And so that's the gist of this motion, and I'm happy to submit it to the Council and urge your support. Okay. There is a second by customers and they have concerns and they has. Thank you. I absolutely want to thank Vice Mayor Richardson for bringing this item forward. Both of us represent neighborhoods that are severely impacted by a lack of access to fresh, affordable groceries and produce, which makes the COVID 19 crisis and store closures that much more painful in our communities. It's it's critical. It's critical that we have that we treat food security as a basic right of our residents and develop a plan to make sure that we are all actively working on ways to preserve and expand access. As a matter of policy, it's unfortunate the case that even before the pandemic, far too many of our residents were faced with hunger and food insecurity. Those numbers have only grown since COVID 19, and it has become harder and harder for a Long Beach residents just to keep food on the table. This plan is needed and it is my hope that we can use it to work together on actionable items that will close this gap for our food insecurities. So I really, really hope that not only focusing on late nights, Long Beach, I'd really welcome the the opportunity, thanking my mayor, the opportunity of implementing these and other districts as well with high food insecurities. So thank you. Cut some of your anger. Thank you, Mary. And I want to thank my colleague device where Richardson cuts to the pencil analogy for bringing this forward. And I want to add my voice in regards to the food insecurity that exists in Long Beach. I certainly have my area in the West, long, weak that is food insecure and extremely disappointed, not only for the fact that during a time when they were making record profits of being close to stores and especially especially disappointed in the press telegram with their recent editorial regarding the heroes pay, especially when they're saying that Kroger has it's been affected by the fact that because of the Heroes Act or the heroes pay that they're losing or they're minimizing the profits, a profit is a profit, and therefore they're making a pay based over low tax profits. They can certainly afford it. So I'm very supportive of this item. Thank you for bringing this forward. And I think that this would be helpful a long way. This would go a long way in helping those communities that are food insecure. So thank you again. Thank you. Councilman Austin. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, I'm happy to support this motion. Certainly. Food insecurity. As a city council, we should be looking to provide as much comfort, and particularly in the area of food for for our residents. I think some of the challenges with insecurity have to have the have a lot to do with the market. You know, just a few years ago, a superstore was was developed in the ninth District in North Long Beach. A Wal-Mart superstore right down the street from a pooper less that is now on on the table to be closed. And I certainly hope that that that that's not a final decision. I hope that Kroger will come to their senses and realize that, you know, that this is a store that is meeting the need of community. And if they don't, I think someone else will. I certainly hope someone else will. And so what does this item does it actually. Direct staff to to look at other grocers, to come into the community to provide groceries or all these services. Maybe that's a question for the author. So I'm happy to answer. So this plan can include a whole host of things. But I think in terms of developing that site, that's a different conversation there. You know, in conversations with development and others, we identified this site as an opportunity, as a major opportunity when we went through the land use settlement process. And as you know, we're in Upland right now at about 12, 13 acres right in the heart of North Long Beach. Huge opportunity banks, housing, grocery. If that were to happen. But right now, the interest is how do we how do we do a needs assessment and analysis on what the food insecurity levels are and also build on the capacity that we have? I mean, we've you've got lobbies it. You've got organic harvest gardens, lobby, center for Economic Inclusion, a lot of food distribution giveaways. These things didn't we didn't have this year. And so there's significantly more capacity. I think this is about the strategy of what can we deliver? Is it. Is it pop up, farmers markets, arm stands? Is it additional food distribution? Is it conversations with grocers? All of that could be factored in. I think this is just about sort of bringing the mindset table. I'll figure that up. Thank you. And I would just say that that to add to that point, you know, there are resources that that should be considered like our our seven acre urban farm in the eighth district, the hard a district right by the Carmelita that is providing lots of organic vegetables for for for families. That's a resource that should be tapped into. I talked to many residents who live in Carson and Compton and other cities who come to Long Beach for their groceries. And so this is a this is not just a North Lawn Beach issue. 90805 issue. But this is a regional challenge because I know for a fact that a number of folks from other cities come into our city to shop. I've heard from that from so many people just recently. I'm fortunate. I live within walking distance to the four or five grocery stores, literally. And we have a hub here in the eight district of grocery food providers, which is, I think, an asset and resource here in our community. Look, people should be able to have resources close by. And so I support that 100%. But I do think, again, some of the market factors should be considered and some some of that we can't control, as the city council is the private private market that that that that is driving some of this this all this activity, in my opinion, outside of our certainly we all supported the Heroes Pay Act. We stand on that. It was the right thing to do. And and, you know, whatever PR move it was to to to to announce closure, you know, and blame it on that, that's fine. I don't necessarily believe that that is the case. I can I guess we can state that publicly now. I think it was more have had more to do with market factors than anything. Thank you. Councilman Allen. Yes, thank you, Mayor. And I, too, look forward to supporting this item because the pandemic has had a significant impact on our residents and especially on families. And that's why we have to look at ways to support food security for our communities. And I just want to say great word to Vice Mayor Richardson for bringing this item forward and also want to say thank you for inviting me to co-sponsor. Thank you. That concludes council comment. Is there any public comment on this item? Yes. Our first speaker is Joey King. Joey King. Good evening, Mayor. Vice Mayor. Can you hear me? Yes. Please continue. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council members. My name is Joey King. I volunteer in District nine with Collins Neighborhood Association and collaborate with a network of pantries and community organizations that span across this amazing city we call Long Beach Item number 16, which is a recommendation to direct the city manager to work with the health department to establish a food security plan is a step in the right direction. But it does make me wonder why would we not already utilize all existing and possible resources to work together in fighting food insecurity? So let's not just do the research, write a report, and let it collect dust on a shelf somewhere. Let's use this momentum and start to take action. The food insecurities that already exist in District nine will be exacerbated with the closure of food for less on South Street. Local pantries and community organizations stand ready to help, as we always are. But making the decision to build food security into the fabric of who we are as a city would mean that we finally begin to address the problem at its root and stop very important fruit. I urge that in developing a plan to move forward, you include those local organizations that fight the battle of food insecurity on a daily basis. As we all look forward to rebuilding our city. I'll leave you with this. America is the richest country in the world. And yet tonight. Thousands of your neighbors will go to bed hungry. It may be your child's schoolmate who is undernourished and has difficulty learning on an empty stomach. Or it could be a coworker or a working parent whose low wage job doesn't make ends meet. Perhaps it's an elderly neighbor who has to make a decision whether to delay filling a prescription or buying groceries. The faces of hunger are as broad as the faces of America. That was David has be with General Mills. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Good night. Thank you. Your next speaker is Marcella de Rivera. Hello. This is Maricela. Can you hear me? Yes. Please begin. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Council members and staff. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak on this item. I'll be brief. I want to thank my council member, Vice Mayor Richardson. I am a proud resident of District nine, and I'd like to thank him for bringing this forward and council women and their husband, Allen, for co-sponsoring . As a resident of the ninth District, Food for Less on South Street is someplace we shop regularly or at least did. And so I just want to let you know that that the heroes pay that they purport is the reason that they are closing even though, again, they purport that it is why they're closing the store. I still support completely. This is absolutely going to impact my life. I look forward to Vice Mayor Richardson. I know that he's going to aggressively try to address this issue and the food desert in the ninth. I know that he has for years before he was even on council when he was serving on staff under Council member Stephen Neal. And I know that this is an issue that's not going to go away for us right away and it's going to be exacerbated for now. But I still think the city of Long Beach did the right thing. And so I'm very excited about what will come and what better grocery store we can get, hopefully to come to the ninth district and serve our residents. I think we're a diverse community that deserves better than Kroger if what they are giving us is not good, not being good employers, I just don't think that that's worth fighting for. I think we need to fight for good employers who are going to treat their customers well. And so I thank you for this and I thank you for the heroes pay also. The next speaker is Juanita Top. We need a deeper more. I need it. Okay. Please begin. Yes. Hello and good evening. Yes, thank you. Good evening, Mayor. Vice Mayor. With such members of city council and staff. Good evening. My name is. We need a couple more. And I'm a resident here in the ninth district. I'm also the founder and president of the Colors Neighborhood Association. During this pandemic and moving forward this year, the Collins Neighborhood Association has hosted food distributions at Jordan High School and in the North Long Beach community. In addition, we partnered with North Long Beach Pantry Collaborative, sponsored by the Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion. During the pandemic, these distributions represent approximately £200,000 of food. And speaking of this, to bring awareness to this need, the closure of the food for left on south and north Long Beach will put families at greater risk. This also puts the residents of Long Beach closer to being a food desert. We have more marijuana dispensaries in the ninth District than we have places to shop and get fresh fruits and vegetables. The residents in North One Beach experienced greater rates of poverty. One in four children living in North Long Beach. Residents with their families live below the poverty level. Children attending public school are dependent on milk for breakfast and lunch. With school closures during this pandemic. Those students are going without daily meals. How can they focus on school on an empty stomach? These are issues being brought to life as a result of this pandemic. I'm asking for the city manager and many a members of city council to take a closer look at the number of food distributions that are being held in North Long Beach and develop a plan to address the food insecurity that our residents in Long Beach , throughout Long Beach are facing. Please be proactive and develop an effective plan, not just putting a Band-Aid on food insecurity, but to come up with a plan to address the issues of food insecurity and the lack of funding taking place in North Long Beach. Thank you very much for your time and the opportunity to speak with you tonight. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment for the center. Thank you. Please go through a roll call. Vote, please, on item 16. Councilwoman Sun has. Right. Councilwoman Ellen? Hi. Councilwoman Price. Councilwoman Pryce. Councilman Sabrina. All right. Councilwoman mango. Councilwoman Sara, I council member oranga. Hi. Councilman Alston. My Vice Mayor, Richardson. All right. Bush and. Kerry. Thank you. Next item, which I think is 17.