(by Paula Ross, UAC Research Associate)

The Northwest Ohio Food Council is a collaborative network of organizations and individuals working together to build a healthy Northwest Ohio food system. Our mission is to promote a healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system in the Metropolitan Toledo Area and the Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan Region. We will pursue this mission by fostering a network of collaboration throughout our local food system, initiating, supporting and promoting programs in the above areas, and promoting local and state policies that support our local food system.

It's been a busy and productive 2012, and its easy to see that 2013 will bring many opportunities to continue learning and working together, beginning with:

• Thursday, January 17, 2013: 13th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit, "Farmland Preservation: Focusing on Farmers," at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center The Ohio State University, Columbus Campus. See attached flyer for more info.
• Monday, January 28th: Northwest Ohio Food Council meeting, 1pm - 3pm to feature Ohio Farm to School Director Julie Fox
Saturday-Sunday February 16-17: OEFFA Conference details and register here: http://www.oeffa.org/conference2013.php
• Monday, March 11 and Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Ohio Farmers' Market Conference, Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. For more info: http://ohiofarmersmarkets.osu.edu/
• March 13, 2013: Ohio Farm to School Conference. (See attached)

Please visit the Council's website http://foodcouncil419.org/ and its "virtual library" of resources we are developing. If you have additional resources to suggest, please send them to co-ordinator@foodcouncil419.org. You can also "like" our facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/FoodCouncil419?fref=ts; anyone can post and it's a good place to share items of interest.  ◊

UAC and the Maumee Valley Growers have provided assistance to a student greenhouse project at St. John's Jesuit High School. This project gives students opportunities to learn first-hand about preserving the environment, green intiatives, and growing cycles of plants. Read the article published in Titan Topics, the SJJHS newsletter.  ◊

On October 25 & 26, 2012, Greentown Toledo will be held at the SeaGate Convention Center. GreenTown is a zero waste, carbon neutral event designed to "connect the dots" between the public and private sector to create a stronger platform for common ground and building community. One of the presenters will be Ken Meter of Crossroads Resource Center, who will give his presentation "Developing Local Food Systems in Northwest Ohio" View the conference announcement and agenda here.  ◊

On October 5 2012, UAC presented Catherine Tumber, a visiting scholar in Northeastern University's School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, who discussed her book "Small, Gritty, and Green -- The Promise of America's Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World". Catherine Tumber has spent much of her life in Rust Belt cities. In this book she suggests that smaller cities can be a critical part of a sustainable future and a productive green economy. Following her presentation, we engaged in a discussion about our community's efforts to create a sustainable future for northwest Ohio. Click here to view the full annoucement.  ◊

The UAC and Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (TLCPL) jointly initiated a study to determine the economic impact and the return on investment (ROI) of the Libary on northwest Ohio. According to the Executive Summary from the study, TLCPL provides 2.86 Return on Investment (i.e., for every $1 spent, the Library returns $2.86), and the economic value of public services provided by TLCPL in 2011 is placed in the range of $118M to $136M per year.

Read the full report and the appendix.  ◊

UAC is pleased to annouce a new, regular publication called Policy Points, which will include summaries of our work and include findings, conclusions, and recommendations. It will be useful to our clients who wish to pursue policy changes as a result of a study, and will be useful to anyone interested in a particular topic that has been studied by the UAC. In most cases, Policy Points will be linked to a more detailed study document available for download in the Publications section of our website. Please take a look at our first issue of Policy Points, which focuses on our recent study A State Of Inequity In Ohio: "Funding and Service Disparities between Municipalities and Townships in Two Ohio Counties".  ◊

UAC Research Associate Paula Ross recently appeared on Toledo's TV13 to talk about Slow Food and how it can benefit your family. Slow Food refers to three basic conceptual questions: is your food good; is it clean; and is it fair? Click here to view Paula's segment on Rebecca Regnier's Full Plate.  ◊

Mr. Ken Dunn, who runs a recycling an urban gardening group in Chicago, believes that "Communities such as Toledo can build value through urban agriculture", according to the Toledo Blade in their April 26, 2012 article. Mr. Dunn spoke at an event co-sponsored by the UAC.  ◊

A recent online article in Green Profit magazine recounts the beginnings of the Maumee Valley Growers, an industry-based agriculture producer group committed to working together to strengthen our local greenhouse industry. Read the article here.  ◊

UAC regrets to announce that UT access to the ICPSR social science data repository at the University of Michigan has ceased due to budget restrictions. Those having questions or comments about this should contact Dr. Neil Reid, UAC Director, at 419.530.3593 or send email to neil.reid@utoledo.edu.  ◊

UAC's recent study on Funding and Service Disparities between Municipalities and Townships in Montgomery County, Ohio has garnered more press coverage, this time an online article in The Press asserting that "Township taxes could go up, if state acts on UT study".  ◊

Dr. Neil Reid (UAC Director) and Paula Ross (UAC Research Associate) have collaborated with Jay D. Gatrell of Indiana State University in the editing of a new book about local food systems: Local Food Systems in Old Industrial Regions. Published by Ashgate Publishing, this book explores the "explosion of interest in local food systems-among policy makers, planners, and public health professionals, as well as environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers, and ordinary citizens. The book represents a first attempt to provide a systematic picture of the opportunities and challenges facing the development of local food systems in old industrial regions." Click the above link for more information.  ◊

UAC Research Associate Paula Ross is one of the organizers of Toledo SOUP, a community effort that aims to "activate local initiatives with microgrants," according to its website. As noted by the Toledo Free Press on February 14, 2012, "The local initiative is part of an international microfinancing movement that has been building for years and gaining momentum in recent months, said Paula Ross, one of Toledo SOUP's organizers. The idea behind the model is that public buy-ins as low as $5 can fund small projects that can have a large impact on the community." Read the full article here.  ◊

UAC has partnered with the Ohio Society of CPAs (who in turn partnered with the Michigan Association of CPAs, the Indiana CPA Society, and the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs) to conduct a regional survey of their members. According to Accounting Today, "CPAs are more optimistic about business growth predictions for 2012 in their respective states than the nation as a whole, according to a new survey of CPAs in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania."

The purpose of the survey was to demonstrate CPAs as business thought leaders and to measure their experiences and observations in the current economy. The survey addresses the issues that CPAs can comment on because of their direct experience as either a sole practitioner or partner in a public accounting firm offering business advisory services, or as CEO or CFO of a company.

UAC's Survey Research Services conducted the survey using questions supplied by the participating CPA organizations, analyzed the results, and wrote the executive summary. The survey results were noted in the following publications:

• Accounting Today | Jan. 17, 2012
• The Business Journal Daily (Youngstown) | Jan. 17, 2012
• Crain's Cleveland Business | Jan. 17, 2012
• Columbus Dispatch | Jan. 17, 2012
• Columbus Business First | Jan. 17, 2012

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