Closing the Food Gap:
Food Policy Councils and Coalitions: Making the
Right Prevalent
Mark Winne
Food Policy Council Director
Community Food Security Coalition
41 Arroyo Hondo Trail
Santa Fe, New Mexico
(505) 983-3047
email: win5m@aol.com
Favorite Quotes:
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence – success
is sure to follow” -- Mark Twain
”Everyone takes sides in social change if it is profound enough.”
-- Wallace Stevens
Mark Winne has 30 years of experience
directing local food organizations in
Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut,
and 15 years of food policy council experience
in Connecticut and New Mexico.
He currently provides food policy assistance through the
Community Food Security, an organization
that he co-founded 14 years ago. Mark also writes
extensively on food and agriculture topics.
Where are the Gaps?
• Access to healthy and affordable food, especially
in lower income communities
• Hunger and food insecurity
• Access to markets that provide fair prices to
farmers
• Access to decision makers and policy making
forums (food democracy)
The “3-P’s” of Developing Just and
Sustainable Local Food Systems:
• Projects: the programs, activities, businesses, and
initiatives that make up local food systems
• Partnerships: the process, collaborations,
coalitions, and multi-stakeholder efforts that are
formed to accomplish something that no single
entity can accomplish alone
• Policy: the actions and in-actions of government at
all levels (local, state, federal) that influence the
supply, quality, price, production, distribution, and
consumption of food
Food and Agriculture Policies are an
Expression of Our Individual and
Community Values
• Values: fairness, equality, opportunity,
compassion…
• Yes, we can be responsible food system
participants and consumers
• But we must also be responsible and active food
citizens
“It is not only our responsibility to make the right known, it is also our
responsibility to make it prevalent.” -- Edmund Burke
Local Food Organizations
(LFOs) and Businesses Begin to
Fill the Gap with Projects
• Non-profit organizations (farmers markets, CSAs,
community gardens)
• Community Development Corporations (supermarket
development, new farm enterprises)
• Faith-based institutions (food pantries, food banks)
• Government Services and Programs (food stamps, WIC,
farmland preservation)
• Schools (child nutrition programs, farm-to-school)
• Cooperative Extension (farmer assistance, nutrition
education)
• Private entrepreneurs (market-based enterprises, coops)
But They’re Never Enough…
• Never enough money
• Don’t become large enough to make a major
impact
• Replication and expansion are stymied
• Many food and agriculture problems too
entrenched and complex
• LFO efforts are often fragmented and
uncoordinated
Organize!
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Loose affiliations
Partnerships
Networks
Task forces
Coalitions
Councils
Moving Forward
• Define the scope of interest: food/social
justice, local food, policy
• Who to engage: Who do we typically work
with? Who else do we need to consider?
What is the role of government (which
jurisdictions – local, county, state)
Organizational Issues
• Strategic Planning: values, mission, goals,
objectives by-laws, conflict resolution
• Committees: Issues, organization
• Meetings
• Funding
• Staff
• In-kind support
Gaining Confidence
• Implement projects: (i.e. jointly present a
resolution or testify at a hearing; conduct a
survey; create a food system map) with
immediate returns to keep members
motivated during the early stages
• Gain interest and involvement of
government officials
Getting Started
• Community food assessment and inventory
of government programs and services (food
policy assessment
• Community engagement and participation
• Crisis
• Convene a forum; prepare a white paper
Find a Champion!
• One or more public officials are usually
necessary to secure government support
• Allow ample time to educate public officials
and solicit their input
• Work with individuals and organizations
who are familiar with city hall or the state
house
FPCs Can Complement and
Extend the Work of LFOs
• Since state and local governments don’t have
“Departments of Food”, FPCs can:
- represent a variety of private and public food system
interest groups and agencies
- cut across government department lines and focus on food,
nutrition, and agriculture issues
- serve as a food system planning venue and promote
coordination between food system stakeholders
- accept responsibility for ensuring that major food and
farming goals, e.g. food is a human right, farmers are
protected, are met
FPCs work within the framework
of existing governmental
structures, responsibilities and
authority
• Allocation of government resources, e.g.
budgets
• Regulation
• Management and administration
• Public education and awareness
FPC Models:
Connecticut State FPC (also Maine)
• created by state statute (1998)
• 12 members – 6 state agencies, 6 private sector
appointed by legislative leadership, and several
“affiliate” (non-appointed) members
• receives small annual appropriation,
administrative support from state dept. of
agriculture, staff support from the Hartford Food
System (non-profit organization)
Cities of Hartford, CT and
Knoxville, TN
• Created by city ordinance (response to a
hunger crisis)
• 15 members including ex-officio
representatives from city agencies
• Limited funding support from city and staff
support from Hartford Food System
Iowa (also Michigan and New York)
• created by executive order
• 20 to 30 members all appointed by Governor
representing public and private sectors
• IA - no state appropriation but received
administrative support from Drake University
• MI received funding from Kellogg Foundation
New Mexico (also Birmingham/Jefferson Co., AL,
Colorado regional councils)
• self-organized as a statewide coalition (operates
under association governance guidelines)
• NM legislature passed a resolution (2003)
encouraging state agencies to participate in the
council
• membership is open to everyone
• administrative and funding support provided by
Farm to Table (non-profit organization)
Dual-Jurisdictional FPCs:
Santa Fe, NM and Portland, OR
• City of Portland and Multnomah County
(OR)
• City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County (NM)
• Joint Resolution passed by city and county
• Council appointments shared by both
• Staff representation and funding shared by
both
General Purposes and Mission:
• Develop, coordinate, and implement a food system policy
• Connect economic development, food security efforts,
preservation and enhancement of agriculture, and
environmental concerns
• Ensure universal access to healthy and affordable food for
all citizens
• Support development and expansion of locally produced
food
• Review proposed legislation affecting the food system
• Make recommendations to the governmental leadership
• Employ research and information gathering, policy
analysis, and public education methods
• Serve as a public forum for the discussion of key food
system issues
FPC Membership
• Membership represents a balance between private
organizations – non-profit and for-profit – and
gov’t agencies:
- food banks, nutrition, farming, community
development
- Depts of education, health, human svcs.,
agriculture, planning, etc.
• Ordinance or statute should specify membership
Issues: FPCs Develop New Markets
for Farmers
FPC (Connecticut Food Policy Council)
• Introduced EBT at farmers’ markets
• Addressing lack of slaughter and processing
infrastructure in state
• Prepared Connecticut Farm Map which helped farmers
• Supported farm-to-school funding proposals
• Promoted the development of “Connecticut Comes First”
- public institutions buy Connecticut grown food
Issue: Develop New Markets for
Farmers
FPC (NM Food & Agriculture Policy
Council)
• Increased funding for small farm
program
• Supported expansion of farm-to-school
Increase Access…
FPC
• Promoted development and expansion of Women,
Infant and Children and Senior Farmers’ Market
Nutrition Programs (CT)
• Protected WIC FMNP from cuts and secured passage
of Senior FMNP (NM)
• Developed state funded program to purchase locally
grown food for food banks and schools (NM)
• Worked for passage of food security bills (NM & CT)
• Assisting tribal communities with development of
farmers’ markets and other food programs (NM)
Increase Access to Food Stores…
• CT – developed new bus route to
supermarkets; conducted food price survey;
secured state funding for supermarket
development
• Develop Healthy Corner Store Campaign
• NM – conduct rural and urban food gap
assessment; established task force
Issue: School Food Environments
and Nutrition Programs
• Removal of junk (unhealthy) food from
City of Hartford schools
• Better access to school breakfast
• Improvements in city-run WIC Program
Improved Food Environment…
FPC:
• State funds for school breakfast start ups (CT)
• State funds for universal school breakfast (NM)
• City task force recommended and oversaw changes in
WIC program (CT)
• State junk food ban in schools (CT)
• Task force to create school nutrition standards (NM) –
soft drink industry opposed it
Loss of Farmland…
FPC:
• Conducted public education about farmland and farm loss
• Introduced farmland protection and food system issues into
government planning work
• Formed the Working Land Alliance which:
- increased public awareness of farmland loss
- Secured $10 m. over 5 years of state farmland preservation
funds
- passed bill (2005) that creates self-funded $25 m. program
to protect farmland, open space, and promote farm-toschool, farm viability and new farmer programs
Opposition and Resistance
• FPCs are intended to be non-confrontational and nonpartisan
• They are advisory – they don’t make policy
• Be prepared to negotiate with those who may oppose
you, but know your bottom-line
• Know who your opposition is (or may be) and work
to keep them neutral
• Work for consensus on issues; spend time educating
one another; maintain a spirit of open and healthy
debate
Lessons Learned
• Relationships count; cultivate them
• Try to be inclusive of a wide range of food
system interests and issues
• On conflict – work on what you can agree,
for everything else, foster climate of robust
debate
(remember: “Everyone takes sides in social
change if it is profound enough.”)
Lessons Learned…
• Educate the public and policy makers about
concepts like food security, sustainable food
systems, and food policy
• Public education and information gathering
may be your most important tool
• Look for uncommon connections
• Look for synergy and crossover in policy
issues between local, state, and federal
Lessons Learned…
Don’t Worry…it will take 20 years!
Resources
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Community Food Security Coalition Food Policy Council Project: Mark
Winne, 505 983-3047; mark@foodsecurity.org; www.foodpolicycouncil.net;
www.foodsecurity.org
Connecticut Food Policy Council (Linda Drake) www.foodpc.state.ct.us
Planners Commission Journal (No. 65, Summer 2006); www.plannersweb.com
Progressive Planning (No. 158, Winter 2004); www.plannersnetwork.org
New Mexico Food and Agriculture Policy Council (Pam Roy – 505 473-1004;
www.farmtotablenm.org)
Dane County Food Council (Madison, WI) – Martin Bailkey
www.countyofdane.com/foodcouncil
National Association of Counties – “Counties and Local Food Systems”
report; www.naco.org
Portland-Multnomah Food Policy Council (OR): Matt Emlen 503 823-7224,
mattemlen@ci.portland.or.us