Lead Contacts | Issue Focus | Pilot Project Plan | Timeline | Progress Reports
In recent years, Oberlin College students, staff, and faculty have worked with the office of Congresswoman Marci Kaptur (D-OH), the Ohio Black Caucus, and Oberlin City Council members on policy research on a variety of topics. We have also collaborated with Policy Matters Ohio (www.policymattersohio.org), a nonprofit policy research organization working to broaden the debate about economic policy in Ohio. A Local PolicyOptions Initiative would enrich Oberlin’s current community-campus partnership efforts, and it would also help us solidify and track research undertaken over time.
The focus of our research at this time is environmental policy, particularly access to fresh, locally grown produce. Many neighborhoods in Oberlin’s county of Lorain and neighboring Cuyahoga County can be termed “food insecure” communities where residents lack access to healthy foods. Oberlin in recent years has experienced the closure of one of its two local supermarkets, which was in walking distance for many residents of the southeast quadrant, Oberlin’s most economically challenged neighborhood. In Cuyahoga County such closures have been followed by a rise in fast-food establishments, convenience stores, and gas stations, which by default become the primary shopping places for many families yet are frequently higher in price and offer only limited selections of fresh fruit and vegetables. To help address this need, the Cleveland / Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition (CCCFPC) was formed in April 2006. The PolicyOptions Initiative supported by the Bonner Foundation will help residents of Oberlin and Lorain County learn from the CCCFPC and explore the formation of a Lorain County Food Policy Coalition. Such an effort would support research, policies, and entrepreneurial activity and programs that increase food security and social and economic opportunity for farmers, other food producers, distributors, and consumers alike.
It is important the PolicyOptions initiative in Oberlin have multiple entry points, both curricular and co–curricular, for student participation. This approach is in keeping with the goals and activities of the Oberlin College Bonner Center for Service & Learning (Bonner CSL), which was formed in 1994–95 to support Oberlin College’s mission of “preparing students for intelligent and useful response to the present and future demands of society.” The Bonner CSL serves as a lynchpin for community-college connections, and since students have already been involved in various projects involving policy research and implementation of local policy through the Bonner CSL, it will be a logical place to host our PolicyOptions Initiative.
We will build infrastructure so that students can become involved through the Bonner Scholars Program, the Bonner Leaders Program, community–based learning courses, summer internships, or Winter Term internships. Several current Bonner Scholars and Leaders have an interest in researching local and state public policy and non-profit activity and publishing their findings using the issue brief template on the PolicyOptions.org website. Input from these students will be sought to formulate a recruiting plan and create the necessary infrastructure to train and support students once they become engaged in our local policy initiative. To support these efforts, funding is requested for student stipends during the summer and academic year.
Faculty will be engaged in the process and the development of PolicyOptions Issue Briefs, both as teachers and advisors. We will begin by targeting faculty in the departments of Politics, Sociology and Environmental Studies. Several faculty members in these departments have already created strong working relationships with community partners on food policy–related issues. We will also connect PolicyOptions research with at least one academic course as well as credit-bearing internships that occur over summer and Winter Term, which will be sponsored by either faculty members or Bonner CSL staff members. We would also like to undertake a faculty survey to gather information about which Oberlin College faculty members currently contribute to policy research on the local, regional, state or national level in any policy area.
Our long-term goal for the local PolicyOptions Initiative is to create a structured, ongoing campus-community dialogue about local food access which can support the formation of a Lorain County Food Policy Coalition. The student interns will work with current community partners and other area stakeholders to analyze existing policies and areas of need and then collaborate with Bonner CSL staff to engage faculty members and students in community-based research in areas such as community food assessment, health and nutrition, institutional purchasing, urban/rural land use, and composting / waste recovery. Student interns will lay the groundwork for opportunities to discuss policy issues both on the PolicyOptions wiki and at gatherings that would bring together diverse constituencies: residents, community partner organizations, policy makers, the media, academics, youth, business leaders, organized labor, Oberlin College alumni, potential funders, and faith-based organizations. We have already spoken with contacts at the local community college (Lorain County Community College), who have expressed interest in co–sponsoring a forum designed to bring together stakeholders from all aspects of the food system. Preliminary plans call for the event to be scheduled in early 2010, to help promote a food security and food system development agenda at the city and county level to ensure that every resident has access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.
Oberlin’s PolicyOptions initiative will be housed in the Bonner CSL, to give students access to the initiative through the different pathways outlined above and to allow the involvement of multiple academic departments. We will establish an editorial/advisory board consisting of community and campus leaders to guide the development of the initiative and to help ensure the quality and accuracy of the student research products. For the board we will seek at least one current or former Oberlin City Council member, one or two Oberlin faculty members, one alumni representative, one staff or faculty person from Lorain County Community College and several students and/or local residents willing to serve on an unpaid basis. The editorial/advisory board will consult with Oberlin College’s Assistant to the President for Community and Governmental Affairs on an as–needed basis. Other potential resources for the initiative include residents of Kendal at Oberlin, a local retirement community, and staff of through the City of Oberlin. Also, an ad hoc group of local citizens recently worked with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life on campus to organize a symposium on poverty at the College, and some of these individuals may be interested in serving on the Editorial/advisory Board as well. We will make every effort to integrate this initiative into ongoing community service, service-learning, community-based research, civic engagement, and community-campus partnership activities at Oberlin. The PolicyOptions wiki will be an invaluable tool in order to provide background information and a way to document past successes and future challenges.
Spring 2009 Achievements
Summer 2009
Fall 2009
Winter / Spring 2010
Summer 2010
Fall 2010
Winter / Spring 2011
The impact of a change in this legislation will impact other gardens in the county.
• August 17th – Gina Makris and Beth Blissman co-facilitate Lorain County Food Policy Coalition meeting at Oberlin Public Library to update interested attendees and brainstorm next directions for the LCFPC (attach handout and ideas from attendees)
* We will keep a record of the number of students and faculty involved each semester, including information about their class year / major (for students) and department / rank (for faculty). We will also document the number of issue briefs developed and track which policymakers have employed them, to the degree that is possible.