Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Tumwater Planning Commission is going to hold a public hearing on the city’s proposed food system plan on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
The plan was developed to review the current food landscape in the city and form strategies that focus on providing healthy food for the community, reducing food waste, and supporting local food production and processing.
While it does not contain steps for implementing strategies, the plan would help guide the city in making decisions that affect food security.
The plan analyses seven sectors involved in the food production cycle: land use and conservation, processors and producers, retail and distribution, waste reduction and recovery, access and security, public health and nutrition, and education and workforce.
For each sector, the plan identifies challenges and opportunities. But, in some cases, it acknowledges no possible opportunities within the city’s authority.
Some of the challenges with food production include high farmland costs, urban growth area rules being incompatible with agriculture, access to affordable water, limited cold storage capacity and difficulty hiring farm workers.
Challenges in food access include rising food prices, technical barriers that prevent some farmers and food hubs from accepting SNAP/EBT payments, low awareness of available food programs, limited options for culturally appropriate food, and lack of coordination with regional food assistance efforts.
Several of the challenges relate to schools, such as students relying on heat-and-serve meals due to the Tumwater School District not having a central kitchen, school gardens lacking stable funding, and short meal periods that result in uneaten food and increased waste.
To address the challenges, some of the potential solutions include:
A full copy of the plan is available here.
At the conclusion of the public hearing, the planning commission is expected to vote on whether to recommend the plan to the city council.
3 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Southsoundguy
Stop destroying good land with awful housing developments. Abolish zoning and adopt healthier planning processes. The University of Oregon did it.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 Report this
CobraCommander
Hey SSG, this is about food, not housing, chode.
Thursday, September 18, 2025 Report this
CobraCommander
Funny how everything is getting dramatically more expensive under the current orange regime...
Thursday, September 18, 2025 Report this