Oakland Food Policy Council

Mission

The mission of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC) is to establish an equitable and sustainable food system in Oakland, California.

The OFPC will:

• Strive to ensure access to healthy, affordable food within walking distance of every Oakland resident;
• Bring underserved neighborhoods to the food policy table and increase “food literacy” among Oakland residents;
• Put food, hunger, and food systems on the City of Oakland’s agenda and contribute to the national dialog on food policy;
• Turn the Oakland food system into an engine for local economic development and involve local and regional agricultural communities.

Goals

1.  Increase food security in Oakland. We will work to ensure that no Oakland resident experiences hunger.
2. Build greater public health in Oakland. We will support the development of balanced food environments that empower residents with opportunities to make healthy food choices and reduce environmental causes of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other diet-related illnesses.
3. Support local agriculture that is economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. We will help make Oakland a market for processing and consuming local food, with the objective of having at least 30 percent of Oakland's food needs sourced from within the City and the surrounding region.
4. Promote energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. We will promote local, sustainable food production, and help Oakland transition to a locally- and regionally-based food system.
5. Support the protection of environmental resources. We will promote consumption of locally and sustainably-grown food, particularly food produced using environmentally-benign and energy-efficient growing, processing and distribution practices.
6. Promote a “closed-loop” food system.We will work for a system that eliminates pollution and use of non-renewable materials, and will promote food scrap composting.
7. Promote community economic development. We will foster development in the food sector that creates living-wage jobs and local ownership in many sectors of the food system.
8. Increase public “food literacy.”We will promote the sharing of information that will allow communities to make food-related choices that positively influence public health, social responsibility and environmental sustainability.

Draft Terms of Reference

Download a DRAFT of the OFPC Terms of Reference here.