MFC General Meeting Notes July 20, 2017

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General Meeting Notes     |   20 July 2017   |   United Methodist Children’s Services

  1. Welcome & Meeting Overview. Stephanie Calloway, stephaniec@core-elcentro.org
  2. Call to order 5:16pm.

Gratitude to host United Methodist Children’s Services of Wisconsin (UMCS), and to Paulette Flynn and hospitality team for delicious food, as well as set up and clean up.

  1. Host Introduction: Thomasine Norrington of Washington Park Partners (UMCS) welcomed MFC members.
  2. Introductions & sign in sheets
  3. Neighbor Spotlight.
    • Tricklebee Café is an organization in this neighborhood: pay-what-you-can fresh, healthy meals. Open since November 2016 and sustaining the original model. Christie encourages people to use the resources around them. The Café is open Wednesday through Saturday for lunch till 2pm. Visit Tricklebeecafe.org or check daily menu on FB page.
  1. MFC committee updates and engagement.
    1. Executive Committee: Board Election Invitation is six months out for nomination of new board members. Members should begin thinking about self-nominating.
    2. Engagement Committee: Chair Damian Coleman was called in to work tonight. He is working with a board member’s daughter to get social media moving forward.
    3. Policy Committee: Co-chair Bruce Wiggins stated they are holding meetings 2nd Monday of the month at Body & Soul Healing Arts Center from 5-6:30. Will discuss Milwaukee Elevates program. All are welcome to join the group.
    4. Report on June Activities
      1. Global Kitchen Community Conversations: Milwaukee Public Museum partnered with MFC to hold two public conversations. Bruce Wiggins moderated the June event and introduced the topic: Food Culture Around Sacred Tradition. Four speakers described their traditions: Yollande Deacon, Pahuoa Xiong, Angela King-Sawan, and Huda Alkaff. It was informative and inspiring. In July, Nick DeMarsh of Groundwork showed a video on seeds. 62 young people from Artworks MKE attended.
      2. Food and the Wisconsin Idea Discussion; invitation from City of Madison Food Council and Dane County Food Council. Stephanie Calloway, Nya Taryor and Barbara Richards attended. They discussed how we are handling our urban issues around food. Dane County and Madison are both government entities, and because we are a non-profit, have differing advantages and disadvantages.
  • City of Milwaukee Food Access Maps. Bruce Wiggins, Tim McCollow
  1. Background: Request for study came from Alderman Khalif Rainey. Key driver: how do we get more supermarkets in town? Intended to keep Dept. of City Development moving forward on this initiative. Acknowledgment that there are many other ways to solve issues of food other than grocery stores (i.e. corner stores, pop-up stores, transportation, etc.), and the difficulty in getting grocery stores into urban centers.
  2. Review Map Details: Grocery store map is the basis of all the following maps. For this reason, Bruce asks that MFC members review this map for accuracy. Other maps include Aggregate Purchasing Power (includes farmers’ markets), SNAP Recipiency, Household Poverty Rate, Population Density, MCTS Bus Routes, and Vacant Properties. Members asked for clarification on data collection. Acknowledgement that here are many aspects that are unclear, and there are nuances missing that can create a different, more accurate picture.
  3. Public Comments: There is a draft plan that is being reviewed by the Milwaukee Health Commissioner Bevan Baker. Kim Whitmore (Ujimaunited@gmail.com) MCH (Mother/Child Health) Committee for Wisconsin Public Health Association is collecting public comments. Members can sign up for email alerts.
  4. MOU: Reminder that MFC has an official Memo of Understanding with Milwaukee Health Department and Environmental Collaboration Office to provide feedback on food matters in the City. It is our role to review these maps/studies and provide feedback.

MKE Elevate The City of Milwaukee Health Department kicked off the new program on February 7, 2017. Their priority issues are Positive Mental Health, Inclusive & Fair Society, and Economic Security. More information can be found at More info can be found at www.milwaukee.gov/MKEelevate; “MKE elevate” on Facebook; @MKEelevate on Twitter; MKE Elevate on Instagram.

  1. Announcements. Please use MFC online calendar to post events.
    1. Stephanie reiterated that all are welcome to come to MFC meetings. She encourages non-members to consider membership.
    2. Note next MFC meeting is a pot luck. Gratitude to Outpost, That Salsa Lady and Martha’s Pimento Cheese for tonight’s food, and especially Paulette and Hospitality team. Requesting volunteers to breakdown room.
    3. Bee the Change Dinner: All are invited to honey-based dinner August 29 at 5:30pm at Zeidler Center (631N. 19th). See my.zeidlercenter.org/beethechange .
    4. Milwaukee Farmers Market Coalition has created a list of farmers’ markets that use SNAP benefits. Please check website.
    5. Fondy is celebrating 100th anniversary September 16th at Fondy Food Market.
    6. UW- Extenstion announces that 2017 Farm Fresh Atlas’ are available. They also have several professional positions open.
    7. LEG MKE Harvest Opportunity: Check Facebook.com/LEGMKE for August-October Saturdays workdays and places. Join the MPS Crew Members in bringing in their harvest at the three micro-farm locations.
    8. WasteCap: Holding Food Waste Forum on July 27 at 5:30 at The Box (311 E. Wisconsin Ave.)
    9. Reflo special event this Saturday, they are unveiling Water Story App. Cream City Farms is home base for the event. Will be using a mobile source of electricity originally designed to pull water out of cisterns, but can be used for other purposes.
    10. Bruce Wiggins has 10 copies of maps that were reviewed earlier.
    11. Food Waste Forum has six-week series at east side Urban Ecology Center.
    12. Groundwork is hosting 2nd Annual Salsa Contest. It will be a city-wide potluck. Salsa dance classes included.
    13. Groundwork is 10 years old and has opened 100th garden at The Garden on Milwaukee Street on September 23.
  1. 2017 Calendar of Meetings. Bi-Monthly Third Thursday. 9:00am-11:00am
  • Thursday, 21 September, 2017, 5pm (Special Time) – Body and Soul Healing Arts Center
  • Thursday, 16 November, 2017, 9am – Body and Soul Healing Arts Center

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