Dallas city council adopts new Comprehensive Urban Agriculture Plan
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Dallas is adopting a new plan to help ensure that every community in the city has access to healthy, local food.
The city council voted on Wednesday, March 8 to approve a new Comprehensive Urban Agriculture Plan (CUAP). The plan aims to improve the city's food system and ensure that every resident is food secure.
In pursuit of these goals, the CUAP aims to provide a long-term strategy for urban agriculture in Dallas. The city will use this framework in its current and future infrastructure and development goals.
The CUAP's overarching goals are to:
- Remove regulatory barriers to implementation
- Support access to farmlands
- Provide access to urban agriculture education and resources
- Facilitate collaboration between urban agriculture stakeholders
"There is no doubt the effects of climate change will have an impact on our resident's ability to access affordable and healthy food options," City Manager T.C. Broadnax said. "By approving this plan, the City of Dallas is showing it has the foresight to plan how to feed its rapidly urbanized population in the face of equally rapid climate change."
In May 2020, Dallas officially adopted the Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) to meet the Paris Climate Agreement. The plan includes 97 actions in eight different focus areas meant to mitigate and adapt to climate change while improving environmental quality and social equity.
The Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS) has been working on developing the CUAP since Oct. 2021. It has conducted interviews with stakeholders and surveyed the public, community groups, and neighborhoods for input during the process.
"By 2050, it is projected that 89% of the U.S. population and 68% of the world population will live in urban areas," OEQS Director Carlos Evans said. "The CUAP is an important step towards ensuring that all of our communities have access to healthy local food."
You can find more information about the full plan online.