COVID-19 responses: Food policy councils are “stepping in, stepping up, and stepping back"

Anne Palmer,Kristen Cooksey Stowers,Karen Bassarab,Abiodun Atoloye,Larissa Calancie,Raychel Santo

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2020.101.013

Anne Palmer, Kristen Cooksey Stowers + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2020.101.013

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Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, food policy councils (FPCs) have emerged as a critical struc¬ture for organizing community-based responses to multiple food system issues. Strong relationships with various food system stakeholders have proven essential in inspiring coordinated action. Using the early results of a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future survey of FPCs (2020), we discuss some of the accomplishments and contributions that 118 FPCs have made toward addressing hunger and supporting producers, school food, food chain workers, racial equity, and resilience in the United States and in tribal nations.

Highlights

Using the early results of a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future survey of food policy councils (FPCs) (2020), we discuss some of the accomplishments and contributions that 118 FPCs have made toward addressing hunger and supporting producers, school food, food chain workers, racial equity, and resilience in the United States and in tribal nations
We highlight several illustrative examples from FPCs across the U.S and Tribal Nations that are transitioning from their pre-pandemic plans to prioritize emergency food assistance, link food producers to new markets, and take on other issues related to the crises
1 A food policy council is defined as an organized group of stakeholders from various sectors that may be sanctioned by a government body or may exist independently of government, which works to address food systems issues and needs at the local, state/provincial, regional, or Native American/First Nations levels through policy

Summary

Introduction

Using the early results of a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future survey of FPCs (2020), we discuss some of the accomplishments and contributions that 118 FPCs have made toward addressing hunger and supporting producers, school food, food chain workers, racial equity, and resilience in the United States and in tribal nations. Keywords COVID-19, Pandemic, Food Policy Councils, Emergency Food, Food Insecurity, Hunger, Producers, School Food, Food Chain Workers, Racial Equity, Resilience

Results

Conclusion