In keeping with its commitment to healthy, locally sourced food, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) has begun an effort to eliminate legal hurdles for local, small-scale food production and distribution. Made possible by a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant received by Multnomah County, the urban food zoning code update project will establish and clarify zoning in regards to community gardens, farmers’ markets, and other means of food production and distribution in Portland.
The zoning updates will address the legal status of five general areas: farmers' markets, community gardens, urban food production, community food distribution points, and animals and bees.
Current outdated zoning codes mean that many well-established farmers' markets, home gardens, co-ops, and other do-it-yourself food-related endeavors exist in a sort of legal gray area. Those involved with the plan say that the updates will clarify the convoluted requirements in the existing codes as well as catalyze more local food production.
Steve Cohen, a food policy expert for BPS, says that the project will clarify the current codes that can often be confusing for growers and the city alike. “Right now, it’s unclear if you grow food in your backyard, can you sell it? Can you sell it at a farmers’ market? Can you sell it in your driveway?” he says. “The idea was that we wanted to remove obstacles and barriers to urban food production and distribution and at the same time be able to make, on the city’s part, an aspirational statement [saying] these are the kind of activities that the city wants to support.”
Julia Gisler, process manger for BPS, echoes Cohen’s sentiment and says that farmers’ markets are currently zoned as temporary uses, which limits how long they can operate. Gisler calls such regulations “convoluted” and says that the new zoning will pose much less of a legal hassle.
Gisler adds that the project is a result of a burgeoning local food scene in Portland that did not exist when the previous zoning codes were created. “So much of the reason why we’re doing this is because there are no definitions in the zoning code for things like community gardens and farmers’ markets and market gardens,” she says. “What’s happening is that the regulations are just not as specific to those uses, and so this gives us a chance to really look at what the use is and then how the best way to regulate it is.”
On a broader level, the zoning code updates will serve to facilitate the availability of food that is local, sustainable, and, most importantly, healthy.
Amy Gilroy of the Oregon Public Health Institute is the project’s chief health consultant. She says that in order to make the most sensible changes to the code, she has been in contact with a number of groups that would benefit from greater accessibility to healthy, affordable food. “Our role has been to connect this public engagement opportunity with other CPPW partners who historically may not have been at decision-making tables,” she says. Some of it has been building relationships with the hunger community, the food security community, the public health community, the food justice community and the environmental justice community as well.”
One of the guiding principles of the zoning update, Gilroy says, is a desire to promote healthy eating. “Having access to and consuming healthy food is one of the most important factors in determining physical health, social well-being, and warding off chronic diseases or health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes,” she says. “We’ve been looking at what’s out there in the academic arena that articulates the benefits of food security and growing food in a more local way, and how that has brought benefits particularly to communities of color and low income communities who are often the most at risk of developing poor health outcomes.”
This summer, BPS will release a concept report containing proposals for zoning changes. Members of the public will be able to contribute to the process at three different public forums and may become a part of the project advisory group.
Barring any unforeseen obstacles, proponents say, the zoning update figures to be a popular project for Portland’s myriad foodies and activists. “Most of these changes are going to have a very positive impact. I think that these will generally be well-received codes,” says Gilroy. “We don’t know what the codes are going to be yet because they haven’t been developed. The concepts are generally really well received by the public that we’ve talked to.”
