What is a Food Policy Council?
A food policy council is an organization that studies the food system in its local area, then makes recommendations on how to improve that food system. Food policy councils are often driven by the goal of making food systems more sustainable and equitable.
Food policy councils are frequently made up of representatives from all the food system sectors, and often include governmental officials as well. Food policy councils provide an arena for all the stakeholders in the food system - from farmers to eaters to food banks to hospitals to grocery store owners - to come together and talk about how to make the food system function as well as possible for everyone.
Food policy councils are usually connected to government in some way. This could mean that the council is a governmental agency, or the council could be an independent organization tasked with advising a governmental agency.
