A  seminar  style  course  which  will  result  in  a  set  of  best  practices  recommendations  for  cities,  to  create  an  environment  supportive  of  the  production  and  equitable  distribution  of  Good  Food:    food  that  is  healthy,  affordable,  and  sustainably  and  fairly  produced.    The  course  will  examine  the  policy  underpinnings  of  the  Good  Food  definition,  with  emphasis  on  the  social  justice  and  environmental  impacts  of  our  current  food  

production  system.    Through  course  readings,  guest  lectures,  case  studies  and  site  visits,  students  will  explore  the  emerging  policy  and  programmatic  options  to  create  shifts  in  the  food  system,  and  the  potential  of  cities  as  fulcrums  of  regional  change.    The  students  will  develop  a  series  of  policy  papers  throughout  the  course,  using  planning  tools,  policies,  and  ordinances,  that  will  serve  as  recommendations  to  cities  on  best  practices  in  the  areas  of:  (1)  urban  food  production,  through  agriculture  and  aquaculture;    (2)  the  components  of  a  healthy  neighborhood  strategy;  and  (3)  other  policy  areas  as  developed  through  course  discussion.    

Professor:    Paula  Daniels  

 

CY  Plan  290  Sec  C  Daniels    

The  Fruitful  City:    Creating  a  Good  Food  Friendly  Urban  Environment    

Paula  Daniels  is  Senior  Advisor  to  the  Mayor  of  Los  Angeles,  on  Food  Policy  and  Special  Projects  in  Water.  She  is  the  founder  and  fulltime  Chair  of  the  Los  Angeles  Food  Policy  Council,  a  policy  based  collective  impact  initiative  of  food  system  leaders  working  toward  an  environmentally  sustainable,  equitable  and  regionally  based  food  system  (www.goodfoodla.org).  The  Council  and  its  staff  serve  as  the  backbone  of  over  100  active  and  500  connected  individuals  and  organizations.    Its  key  initiatives  are:  (1)  develop  a  coordinated  healthy  foods  strategy,  with  a  focus  on  neighborhood  market  conversions;  (2)  implement  a  Good  Food  Purchasing  Policy,  a  holistic,  multi-­‐faceted  and  comprehensive  policy  with  guidelines  for  large  public  and  non-­‐profit  institutional  food  purchasers;  (3)  develop  a  regional  food  hub  enterprise  to  support  local,  sustainable  food  producers.  

 She  also  developed  the  original  strategic  plan  and  organizational  foundation  for  the  award  winning  MillionTreesLA  program,  and  developed  a  suite  of  green  infrastructure  policies,  best  practices  and  tools  for  the  City  of  Los  Angeles,  including:  the  Green  Streets  initiative,  which  includes  the  development  of  the  nation's  first  standard  plans  for  Green  Streets;  a  Low  Impact  Development  Ordinance,  a  workforce  program  for  green  infrastructure  jobs,  and  study  on  job  benefits  in  water  use  efficiency  projects.      

An  attorney,  she  has  been  actively  engaged  in  California  environmental  policy  issues  for  over  20  years,  and  was  a  commissioner  with  the  California  Coastal  Commission,  and  on  the  governing  board  of  the  California  Bay-­‐Delta  Authority.  For  the  last  three  years,  she  has  taught  a  class  on  environmental  water  policy  at  the  Institute  of  the  Environment  and  Sustainability  at  UCLA.