By: Monica Maheshwari, USF Research Development Institute
Sustainable food systems capable of delivering food and nutritional security are vital to our future. This goal was significantly tested in the 2024 hurricane season, with storms Debby, Helene, and Milton placing unique, yet often compounding stressors on Tampa Bay’s regional food system.
A new think tank at the University of South Florida dedicated to the "Future of Food," in collaboration with BayCare Health and Feeding Tampa Bay, have set sights on building an agile, innovative ecosystem to advance sustainable, food-secure solutions across the Tampa Bay region that are responsive and resilient to extreme weather events with the help of emergency response and food assistance providers.
Collaborative Listening Session Sparks Dialogue on Regional Food System Resilience
This vision began to take shape during a recent listening session, hosted at St. Joseph’s Hospital in December, which gave emergency food response partners and non-profit organizations the opportunity to share their experiences preparing, responding, and recovering from the region’s historic hurricane season.
Elizabeth Dunn, director of the USF Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), emphasized the need for action, saying, “I am tired of talking about it—I want solutions. We need workshops and disaster plans that nonprofits can implement.” Dunn, who activated her team before Hurricane Helene and remained engaged throughout the recovery from Hurricane Milton, played a pivotal role in coordinating hundreds of volunteers through the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center.
This call for proactive measures echoed throughout the event, as participants shared firsthand experiences of the challenges faced by emergency and food response providers. Central to the conversation was the need to coordinate efforts.
Ongoing power outages, disabled communications, and the shifting locations of mobile distribution teams made it difficult to assess where need was the highest, what type of assistance was needed, and who was actively responding in an area. Some areas experienced duplicated response efforts, while other neighborhoods were left underserved.
Despite challenges, community-based organizations displayed remarkable agility in their response. Local groups, like Dube’s Mobile Market and 360Eats, mobilized rapidly after hurricanes Debby and Helene, and demonstrated how hyper-local food systems can adapt quickly to provide fresh produce and nutritious meals during disaster. The results, in some cases, found community providers able to access and respond to neighborhoods’ needs faster than official channels, reinforcing the importance of creating a collaborative network of emergency response and food assistance providers.
There was also consensus that both food insecure and food secure populations should be considered, with many finding themselves in need of emergency resources for the first time during the 2024 hurricane season.
Session participants, in response, underscored the need for proactive education around hurricane awareness, preparation, and response for community members and community providers alike. “Workshops on disaster management could equip small organizations with effective crisis plans,” suggested Dhalia Bumbaca, Director of Development and Programming at WellBuilt City. USF could USF leverage its academic resources to develop a scalable model inclusive of various populations and stakeholders from across the region.
Path Forward: Building Resilient, Equitable Food Systems
The lessons learned from the 2024 hurricane season are shaping the path forward for a more resilient and equitable food system across the Tampa Bay region.
“The solutions proposed in the listening session provide a blueprint for what is possible as we look to build a sustainable, food-secure future for the region,” said Dr. Miranda Mattingly, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives at the USF Research Development Institute. “We need to start that process now of developing a connected network of thought leaders and food providers capable of innovating how a region’s food system can be adapted in times of crisis and beyond.”
The USF Future of Food Think Tank, led by Drs. Christian Brechot and David Himmelgreen, will take on this challenge at its official launch on January 24, 2025. The think tank aims to foster a dynamic university-community partnership network dedicated to advancing the connectivity, sustainability, and resiliency of the Tampa Bay and international food systems through novel transdisciplinary and participatory research and education.
Faculty, community, and industry leaders are welcome to join the Future of Food Think Tank. Register now for the think tank’s launch on January 24th.