Alachua County Commission hears update on emergency food assistance and considers setting standards for affordable housing built by religious organizations

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the December 2 policy meeting, the Alachua County Commission heard an update on their emergency food assistance program and considered setting standards for affordable housing built by religious organizations.

During the adoption of the agenda, the agenda item for Development Review Administrative Powers and Duties was moved to the next policy meeting. 

Emergency food assistance

On November 4, when SNAP benefits were disrupted due to the federal government shutdown, the board voted to give $100,000 to Bread of the Mighty and $100,000 to the farmers’ markets and family resource centers for fresh fruits and vegetables, and Assistant County Manager Missy Daniels told the board today that the distribution of those funds “was not as easy as, ‘Here’s a check.'”

Daniels said Bread of the Mighty had some “hold-ups with some of the boxes coming in,” which is a “nationwide issue,” and the County worked with two farmers’ markets — Grove Street and High Springs — to provide vouchers for families in need. She said the County asked the farmers’ markets how much they could realistically spend, and based on the answers, they gave Grove Street $5,000 and High Springs $1,000. She said Grove Street has spent about $250 on about 10 people who got the vouchers, which could be used to get fresh fruit and produce from Frog Song Organics, “and probably some other vendors.” She said High Springs has spent about $160 of the funds so far. Daniels said Frog Song Organics “has been a good partnership” because they source from local farms and deliver the food. 

Of the remaining $94,000, $50,000 was split between the family resource centers (a little over $8,000 for each center). Daniels said all of the resource centers have placed orders, and two of them have ordered twice, spending about $18,000 on 4,450 pounds of food. 

Commissioner Anna Prizzia said she was “really glad” Frog Song “stepped up” because farms were not expecting this when they planned their crops for this season.

Daniels said the government has notified authorized SNAP retailers that they can’t treat SNAP recipients differently from the general public unless the money comes from USDA, so she recommended changing the November 4 motion to provide emergency food assistance by removing “SNAP-eligible” from the requirements for recipients.

Daniels also said the board had indicated on November 4 that the money could be used to increase refrigeration capacity, but only the Willie Mae Stokes Community Center indicated that they had space or need for a refrigerator, and they sent a picture of a commercial unit that costs about $1,700.

Daniels said that the motion was originally to end the program on December 31, but because of the backlog, Bread of the Mighty would not be able to use their allocation by then, so staff wanted to make sure the board wanted to “continue spending the money, even though SNAP is back, in some form or fashion.”

Commissioner Mary Alford favored spending all of the allocated money “because a lot of folks are already behind, and this will allow them to have that extra food security until they get a little bit caught back up.”

Patrick Dodds, Executive Director of Bread of the Mighty Food Bank, said the purchase order from the County was finalized on November 20, and they made their first purchase the next day, but not all of the products were available; he said they purchased a half load for $42,000, about 44,000 pounds of food, “about half of the products that we had listed in those emergency boxes.” He said they’ve been purchasing food and boxing it up using other revenue streams, but he was hoping the December 31 deadline could be extended. He said all of the food has now been purchased, but it hasn’t arrived yet. When the food arrives, he said, the organization will distribute it in various locations around Alachua County. 

Alford asked why the County was only working with Frog Song, and Prizzia said, “The majority of [the other farms] couldn’t meet the volume and delivery guidelines, given that it’s in the middle of their season.” Daniels added that Frog Song is partnering with other farms, and another factor was that the resource centers need the food delivered, and Frog Song is the only farm that can deliver the food. 

Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler asked whether the County had contacted large commercial farms, and Daniels said the County is engaging with “people who have multiple options and not a single large crop, so they can get variety in their box, of what’s in season now.”

Motion

Prizzia made a motion to amend the November 4 motion “to say that we are able to provide a fresh food voucher program for persons experiencing food insecurity, instead of just SNAP-eligible, that we do authorize the use of the funds for coolers [refrigerators] for any of the resource centers that wish to use them — commercial, double-door-type coolers, that we expand the timing of the expenditure of the funds so that folks can expend the total dollar amount we have available.” There were multiple seconds. Prizzia later amended the motion to put a dollar limit of $5,000 on each cooler, and the seconders agreed. 

The motion passed unanimously.

Prizzia on adding food security to the County’s Comprehensive Plan: “The reason that food is so cheap is because we’re externalizing all those costs… When we reintegrate those values of environmental sustainability, health and nutrition, and justice in the food system, we have to reintegrate the costs associated with them, too… And that can be a challenging conversation to have because everybody still wants their 10-cent bananas, you know, but they also want everything to be sustainable and organic, and they want people to be treated fairly.”

Chair Ken Cornell and Prizzia thanked County staff for their work in coordinating between all the different entities. Prizzia said the County’s Food Hub pilot program would be “an interesting challenge” because it is also happening during the growing season “versus giving [the farm that is awarded the pilot] the chance to plan it and put a structure together for the next season.”

Cornell said that adding food security to the County’s Comprehensive Plan will give them seven years to implement the Food Hub program, which will start with a pilot program.

Prizzia added, “And I think no matter what, what we’ve seen is that we’re pushing not just the values of food and fresh and healthy, but local economy and fair and justice — you know, Frog Song pays fair wages, they provide benefits to their employees, they’re taking care of the people in the food system, so the people in the food system aren’t experiencing exploitation and then being the very people we have to help with food assistance programs, right?”

Prizzia: “We’re not just trying to create a new Alachua County version of a global food system. We’re trying to change the narrative of the food system to be one where everyone is treated with fairness and everyone has access to healthy and nutritious food.”

Prizzia continued, “And that’s the idea, that the system that we’re building doesn’t replicate the existing food system. We’re not just trying to create a new Alachua County version of a global food system. We’re trying to change the narrative of the food system to be one where everyone is treated with fairness and everyone has access to healthy and nutritious food. And I think that this is a model for that. So I’m really excited that we’re leading the way here.”

Prizzia concluded, “I think the challenge now is to have a values-based supplier, i.e., a Food Hub that can buy from the local farmers who meet those values that we’re talking about and provide that into the system, and then also to make sure that we have the funding associated with that food. Because I think people have this expectation that somehow food is going to be… cheap, right? But the reason that food is so cheap is because we’re externalizing all those costs. We’re externalizing them to our health, we’re externalizing to the environment, and we’re externalizing them to exploitation of the workers, and so, when we reintegrate those values of environmental sustainability, health and nutrition, and justice in the food system, we have to reintegrate the costs associated with them, too, you know what I mean? And that can be a challenging conversation to have because everybody still wants their 10-cent bananas, you know, but they also want everything to be sustainable and organic, and they want people to be treated fairly… We’re still realizing those costs; we’re just realizing them in other ways. We’re paying them at the hospital; we’re paying them in environmental clean-ups.”

Prizzia said the Food Hub is “about building that middle… that gets the food from the farmers to our food service and our institutions, but does so with those values.”

“Yes in God’s back yard”

The board next considered policies in response to 2025 legislative updates to the Live Local Act; among the changes was a provision, referred to as “Yes in God’s back yard,” that religious institutions can develop affordable housing on their property if a minimum of 10% of the units do not exceed 120% of AMI (Area Median Income).

Prizzia pointed out that the statute says local governments “may approve” these housing developments, and it’s “a minimum of 10%,” so local governments can set higher standards. She asked that the next City/County Joint Affordable Housing Advisory  Committee (AHAC) meeting be a workshop, with churches invited to participate. 

Prizzia supported opening the policy to other civic organizations: “Just because you’re religious doesn’t mean you’re the only organization that cares about community or would want to use land that’s technically off the tax rolls to be able to build affordable housing.” She favored requiring the units to be affordable at 50% AMI and said she would like staff to bring back ideas for incorporating schools and civic organizations into the policy; she also thought the developments should be near jobs and transportation, areas “where we’re trying to target denser development and where we have those amenities and support systems available to people.” She added that the housing should provide a community benefit and be “open to all,” based on income level instead of only being open to church members, for example.

Principal Planner Chris Dawson said there are “some speech issues related to that,” so the County Attorney’s Office would need to look at the policy.

Wheeler said she remembered the Krishna community talking about an elder care facility, “so that’s the way I would see this one, that church members who are aging within the community of the church would have access to that. I know the Ignite Center, here in town, also provides housing,… there is dormitory-style housing in connection with that church.” She said schools could similarly provide housing for young teachers or other staff.

Alford said she also “felt strongly” about healthcare organizations being able to build housing, “even though they’re for-profit, because we have such a need for mental health housing right now, and there might be an opportunity there.” She clarified that she was referring to housing for people who have mental health issues.

Prizzia suggested referring the policy to AHAC, but starting with only religious organizations, and in the meantime, staff could look into other entities that may want to participate. She also wanted to set “really high standards, because if we’re giving them the ability to build tax-free housing, then it should be primarily affordable housing, not 10% of it affordable housing, but the majority.”

Motion

Prizzia made a motion to “refer the question of the ‘Yes in God’s back yard’ standards to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, to provide us recommendations, and ask that we also coordinate with the City’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee in order to ideally align our two programs, and then ask for feedback from the faith community on those standards and bring back those recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners.” Commissioner Charles Chestnut seconded the motion.

The motion passed unanimously.