2024-2025 Workplan

1. 2024-2025 Island County Comprehensive Plan Update

Island County is conducting a periodic update to its comprehensive plan to help shape growth in our county over the next 20 years, scheduled for completion in December 2025.

Over the past 14 months, ARCIC has been systematically working towards providing input to the Island County Planning Department representing the interests and concerns of our agricultural community.

In June 2025, the county released the draft comprehensive plan goals and policies for public comment. On July 21, ARCIC submitted formal comments and recommendations on the agriculture sections of the Land Use, Natural Resources, Economic Development, and Climate Change elements. In addition to the milestone events mentioned below, ARCIC members will have met in person with Island County’s three commissioners by the end of August 2025 regarding the state of agriculture in their districts and the concerns of farmers and food producers.

Milestones

ARCIC Comments on Draft Comprehensive Plan Update (July 21, 2025)
Our submission to the Island County Planning Department includes general recommendations and a description of agriculture in Island County, in addition to comments on specific goals and policies in the four elements mentioned above.

Presentation to Island County Planning Department (February 19, 2025)
ARCIC members Danielle Bishop (Ebey Road Farm) and Annie Jesperson (Deep Harvest Farm) presented the agricultural community’s recommendations and priorities gathered from the Farmer Town Hall.

Farmer Town Hall (December 5, 2024)
Sponsored by ARCIC, we presented 13 recommendations to the current comprehensive plan that the American Farmland Trust (AFT) assisted ARCIC in developing. The 35+ farmers present provided feedback and went through a series of group exercises to set priorities.

Stay Informed: Sign up to receive email notices here about the comprehensive plan updates from the Island County Planning Department.

Share Your Input Online: The county is taking public comments seriously and sharing them with decision makers. Visit their public comments page to share your thoughts and suggestions regarding agriculture and our local food system.

Public and Written Comments: Attend meetings of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Planning Commission. The BOCC meets every Tuesday at 10 am and both public and written comments are welcome. Particiption guidelines available here. The Planning Commission meets the first and third Wednesdays at 6 pm, with the same participation guidelines as the BOCC.

2. Navigating Food Safety Regulations

Island County’s Public Health Department is working on ways to improve the implementation of its food safety program. Measures under consideration include improving communications, adjusting unrealistic timelines for a rural community that lead to compliance difficulties, and helping find alternative solutions to prevent financial hardship for small food businesses. Food Safety staff have stated their interest in finding solutions and working with farmers, restaurants, and other food related businesses to address their concerns, while still upholding required food safety regulations mandated by the state of Washington.

Marian Myszkowski of ARCIC is a member of Island County’s Community Health Advisory Board (CHAB), representing the interests of agriculture and value added food businesses. Please email marian@goosefoot.org if you have any questions or concerns regarding your experiences with the food safety department at Public Health.

3. The Economic Impact of Our Local Food System

ARCIC would like to see a collaborative effort in Island County for a comprehensive study of the economic impact of our local food system. We believe our agriculture community and food producers provide economic benefits above and beyond those listed in publicly available sources. Agriculture is identified as a significant industry in Island County’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), overseen by the Economic Development Council for Island County (EDC).

4. Food System Plan

While Island County’s Public Health Department was unsuccessful in its 2024 USDA grant application to conduct a food system study for our county, this represented a major step forward by local government in recognizing the importance of food resiliency and security. The education and advocacy efforts of ARCIC for such a plan—combined with an existing interest in food system planning by key health department staff—were instrumental in bringing food system planning to the table.

Food system planning takes into account all aspects of growing, producing, processing, and distributing food in a region. Also included in a good plan are aspects of climate change mitigation, emergency preparedness, and food availability and distribution channels for our most vulnerable community members.

ARCIC looks forward to being an active partner in this process moving forward. We are fortunate in that three neighboring counties released their own food system plans in 2023— San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom—providing models and resources to build upon.

5. Meat Processing Facility & Resources Shortage

This remains a difficult problem to solve for a variety of reasons that become more insurmountable as time goes on.

ARCIC was hopeful that our meat processing survey—conducted in February/March 2024 and drawing 79 responses—would assist in providing a path forward in solving this complex puzzle. Unfortunately, we remain stymied on how to move forward with a host of issues including the costs of either a permanent location or mobile facility, regulatory burdens, staffing shortages, long-term maintenance and administration of such an effort, and more.

If you are interested in seeing the results of our survey, please contact marian@goosefoot.org. We are happy to share our findings.