Smart Growth Conference: It’s also about what we eat

Among the traditional planning topics featured at this week’s Smart Growth Summit in Baton Rouge is a hot social issue with growing traction: local food. “’Educated eaters are coming your way,’ is the phrase we’re living by right now,” says speaker Copper Alvarez, executive director of the Baton Rouge Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance. On Thursday, Alvarez, along with Jeff Kleinpeter of Kleinpeter Farms and Vanessa Ulmer of the Tulane University Prevention Research Center, will discuss how better policies and planning can build an infrastructure that expands the availability of local food. “There’s higher demand today than ever – the farmers routinely sell out,” Alvarez says, “but only 4% of the population shops at farmers markets. The challenge of the future is creating sustainable, local food systems that can feed more people.“ While interest in local food has been building over the last two decades, it’s now a mainstream topic with strong staying power, says Alvarez, helped by Michael Pollan’s bestseller In Defense of Food and a new organic garden at the White House. The American Planning Association is also taking it seriously, with a cover story this month in its magazine Planning that explores how rising demand for locally grown goods will influence urban design. The Center for Planning Excellence coordinates the Smart Growth Summit, which features speakers and workshops until Saturday. For more information, click here. — Maggie Heyn Richardson