Nationally known as a pioneer in the local food and farm movement, Johnson County supervisor candidate Kurt Friese is giving a new twist to the old motto of walking the walk in politics. In a listening tour to engage more residents, connect the concerns of sustainable growth for urban, rural and suburban voters, and celebrate the rolling hills in southeastern Iowa, he's on track to bike to every township in his future district.
Call it: Biking the bike, or politics in an age of sustainability. Friese calls it, "Roadmap 2020," as part of a long-term vision for the growing county.
Southeast Iowa, of course, is hardly a stranger to bikes. This summer will be Friese's 10th time to participate in the statewide biking phenomenon known as Ragbrai.
"The cycling culture is very strong in our community," Friese said, "and the progress made on trails has been great in the last decade or so. But there's a lot more to do. Commuters are telling me they'd like more attention paid to clearing major trails in winter and after strong storms. "
"The goal is to ride in every city, town and township in Johnson County," he added. "The Johnson County Land Use Plan is up for its 10-year review now through 2018, when it will be revised and renewed. If it's not done right, we'll have 10 more years of pouring concrete on farm land. This tour will bring that and many other issues facing JoCo to light, and is my chance to listen to your concerns, ideas, hopes and dreams."
Kurt Friese: Photo Courtesy of Friese for Supervisor
Owner and "chef emeritus" of the renowned sustainable cuisine Devotay restaurant in Iowa City, author, and publisher of the Edible Iowa magazine, Friese has been in the forefront of local food, farm and various innovative economic initiatives in Iowa and beyond for nearly three decades.
"Everything is we do is tied most closely to the soil," Friese said. "How we treat the soil of course affects our water. Our water problems in JoCo and throughout Iowa affect our ability to be a resilient community. Resilient communities are regenerative communities, they support themselves sustainably, including everyone in the community, by providing energy, by providing meaningful work, lifting barriers to employment like transportation, respecting everyone's inherent worth and dignity, and seeing to it that they have homes to feel safe in. In those homes, they gather around tables to share healthful food, that comes from the healthy soil, that traps carbon well to stave off global warming. The effects of global warming hit the economically disadvantaged populations the hardest, which add to the injustices they are already experiencing, exacerbating poverty, worsening food insecurities, which brings us back to food."
He's now campaigning to bring his experience, as well as his long-time advocacy for health and human services and fair wages, into county government for a "more regenerative, resilient, sustainable, and inclusive" Johnson County.
Along with serving on the Boards of Directors of Slow Food USA, the Iowa Food Policy Council, the Iowa Restaurant Association and NewBo City Market, Friese also serves on the Advisory Council of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust. As Director of Healthy Food & Advocacy, he recruited the anchor merchants that launched NewBo City Market in Cedar Rapids.
His campaign has earned endorsements from a broad range of supporters, including Iowa City Mayor Pro Tem Kingsley Bothway II, who praised Friese "for his ability as a restaurant owner to articulate a perspective supporting minimum wage increases in the midst of uncertainty in the business community," to former NFL and UI football star and Iowa City retail development director Nate Kaeding, who called Friese "one of the founding fathers of the burgeoning Iowa City culinary scene," to farmer Lois Pavelka, who praised Friese's experience on county health issues and preserving farmland.
I caught up with Friese to discuss his "Roadmap 2020" tour, and some of the campaign issues in Johnson County.
Jeff Biggers: How does your bike tour raise awareness of the transportation challenges for the growing Johnson County area?
Kurt Friese: Roadmap 2020 is designed to highlight both what's good about our transportation infrastructure, and where it still needs work. For example, bike paths are great for commuting, but they don't often get cleared in the winter or after strong storms. A wide shoulder is great along a busy highway, until it abruptly ends for no apparent reason.
JB: Local food and farming have always been a tradition in the communities you're visiting. How do you see this expanding in the future?
KF: Local food is my passion of course, yet 83% of the growers in our wonderful farmers markets grow outside the county. I want to make it possible for a farm of under 40 acres to be called a farm and taxed as a farm, but be careful to craft the ordinance in such a way that it does not provide a back door to residential development on farm land.
JB: As you go from urban to rural communities, what are some of the land issues you find needing most attention?
KF: Small bridges on our secondary roads are often in need of repair, and stopping at them it is easy to understand how our water quality has become so terrible. There are things we can do to mitigate that, but a lot must come from the state and federal level.
JB: Johnson County recently added solar energy installations on county buildings. What are some of the interesting showcases for innovation you're finding?
KF : Just outside of downtown Iowa City, the new MidwestOne Bank tower has solar, as does a new apartment building on Riverside drive (800 panels!). But we're not doing enough with wind energy, save for a couple cool wind-powered electric car charging stations at the HyVee grocery stores. Biking builds community, improves health and reduces carbon. Preserving our farms preserves our soil, which sequesters carbon. Growing food locally reduces transportation and, again, reduces carbon emissions. Like the old bumper sticker says, we got to think globally and act locally to make our community more regenerative, resilient, sustainable and inclusive.