Mississippi Gulf Coast Advances Sustainability Plan :: BioCycle, Advancing Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy

Integrating food systems into Gulf Coast sustainability plan was a novel idea because food was not a topic high up in the minds of the region’s leaders.

IN October 2010, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities awarded a $2 million Regional Sustainability Planning grant to the Constituency for a Sustainable Coast, a consortium of partners in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. The grant is funding a collaborative planning project — the Plan for Opportunity — intended to guide the economic growth and development of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the region’s goals and strategies for achieving regional sustainability. An underlying strategy includes engaging with everyone from mayors to technical experts to everyday residents to get stakeholders talking to each other about shared interests and promoting collaboration.

The Constituency includes the Gulf Regional Planning Commission, the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District, the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Mississippi State University’s Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, and the Ohio State University’s City and Regional Planning program. The Plan for Opportunity, a three-year endeavor, will include eight elements — coastal resiliency, air quality, water security, transportation, housing, economic development and food (everything from food access to food waste).