What is a Food Policy Council?
According to Mark Winne, the nation’s foremost authority on food policy councils, a food policy council is a group of people joined together with the ultimate goal of strengthening a community’s food system.
To accomplish this, a food policy council works in an advisory capacity to government. Examples of projects food policy councils may take on include:
- Improving access to fresh produce in schools, hospitals, and senior centers
- Developing land use policies to encourage regional farming and community gardens
- Identifying barriers in our food system and recommending solutions to encourage economic development
- Providing healthy foods to areas of the community not well-served by grocery stores
A food policy councils requires an active community member base that should represent all the communities that would be affected and helped by food policy changes. Having representatives from many different backgrounds who can lend their knowledge and expertise is an integral part of the council.
When government representatives and community members all sit at the same table and share ideas, more positive engagement should be a result. By building relationships, a food policy council can help a local government create policies that make the food system better for everyone.