Thursday, October 1, 2026
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The Olympia City Council approved $245,000 in funding to develop a comprehensive local food systems plan aimed at strengthening food access, resilience and affordability in the city.
The funding includes $50,000 from city council goal funds, as well as $195,000 from economic development reserves.
The two-phase planning effort will assess Olympia’s existing food system, gather input from community members and organizations, and develop actionable strategies to guide future investments.
Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation Director Sylvana Niehuser presented the proposal at a city council meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The work stems from a council referral and is also intended to implement a provision of Olympia’s Comprehensive Plan calling for development of a food systems plan.
Niehuser said disruptions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to food assistance programs, have demonstrated how vulnerable food access can be for people.
While the city has supported initiatives, including community gardens and changes to city codes that allow additional agricultural uses, Niehuser said Olympia lacks a comprehensive strategy to connect thoe efforts.
Niehuser outlined a two-phase approach to developing the plan.
The first phase will focus on understanding existing conditions by compiling an inventory, assessing the local food system and conducting extensive community engagement.
“We will work look at where the system is working well, where people are being left out, and then identify gaps, barriers, inequities to access healthy food and affordable, culturally relevant food,” Niehuser said.
By the end of Phase 1, the city aims to have a clear understanding of the current state of the local food system, the priorities identified by the community, and the most significant equity and resilience challenges facing Olympia. Niehuser said this information would provide the foundation for developing actionable strategies and solutions in the second phase.
The second phase will focus on turning the findings from the first phase into action. The city will translate those findings into goals, strategies, and a draft food systems plan for eventual council adoption.
Niehuser emphasized that the strategies should be practical and actionable. She said the plan should identify near-term actions, estimated costs, potential funding sources, policy or regulatory changes, and ways to measure progress.
The proposed cost drew questions from Council member Kelly Green, who asked whether hiring a full-time employee could accomplish similar work for the same investment.
Niehuser said the city was not considering hiring a full-time employee for the project, as a consultant team would provide specialized expertise and support for extensive analysis, geographic information system (GIS) mapping and community engagement.
She said reducing the budget would likely require scaling back components in the plan, including GIS mapping, stakeholder interviews, and public engagement, noting it requires significant time and resources, particularly when reaching marginalized communities.
Niehuser defended the proposed cost by pointing to the scope of work and the need to compensate community members for their time and expertise.
She cited Austin, Texas, which spent about $300,000 on its food systems plan. She also noted Tumwater’s plan cost about $40,000, but its author said more work could be done on community engagement and strategy development.
The proposed $245,000 is a not-to-exceed amount for a consultant contract. The city has not issued a request for qualifications or negotiated a contract.
“I hope the plan will be something that will also guide future investments,” she said.
Niehuser added having “shovel-ready” steps could make the city more competitive for grants and provide a clearer road map for implementation.
The plan is also intended to identify potential resources, policy or regulatory changes, and ways to measure progress.
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TheVirtualOne
Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars handed out to consultants yet again by inept city government. Money taken from “city council goal funds” and “economic development reserves.” The first is a slush fund and the second has both to do with economic development, but rather is intended for more giveaway social services. Outrageous! There are already solutions to deal with these issues. Grocery stores, food banks, jobs, and a federal program SNAP are already in place. This is nothing but another city government backed taxpayer funded scam.
Monday, August 17 Report this
TheVirtualOne
**has nothing to do with economic development**
Monday, August 17 Report this
Tanker1982
Sad. A waste of money.’
Monday, August 17 Report this
JnNwmn
The money would go further if used to buy food shares from existing local small farms. Then distribute coupons to low income families to use to buy food from the local farms. The local farmers are experts at using local resources and employ local people. A better way to spend $245,000.
Monday, August 17 Report this
Boatyarddog
There can NEVER be enough funds Available when People, Women Children Men are hungry. Shame on those that disagree with a sensible principal of mainstream Christanity. It's a NO BRAINER, Feed Hungry people. People have a right to eat, same with oxygen, a sensible, reasonable, right!
Monday, August 17 Report this
BettyVerdammt
"The proposed $245,000 is a not-to-exceed amount for a consultant contract. The city has not issued a request for qualifications or negotiated a contract."
Council and Sylvana Niehuser are not corrupt. They are suckers.
Tuesday, August 18 Report this
SC4011
I’ll want to see the final product. I managed a lot of statements of work for contracts and examples like this had 1/2 of the money going to the vendor and 2/2 to the worker bee. But if they half ass a report there is little that could be done.
This seems like an incredible excessive amount.
Tuesday, August 18 Report this
SC4011
I located the URL for the Austin Texas food plan: https://austin.widen.net/view/pdf/juh6xif5cw/Austin-Travis-County-Food-Plan.pdf?t.download=true
Tuesday, August 18 Report this
JW
When it's other people's money, the ability to spend it frivolously is quite an easy muscle to work out.
Tuesday, August 18 Report this
CobraCommander
TheVirtualOne - Don't pretend you care about fiscal responsibility when you voted for this:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/13/trump-presidency-revenue-wealth
Don't forget food assistance is being dismantled by the current regime, and grocery/gas prices continue to rise due to the brazenly stupid actions of the trump admin.
Taking care of people's basic needs has been shown to benefit economies at all levels. The ultracapitalists have got you angry with your own community.
Tuesday, August 18 Report this
CobraCommander
JW - You mean like the White House ballroom that literally nobody asked for? Like that?
Tuesday, August 18 Report this