What is a Food Policy Council

A Food Policy Council (FPC) is comprised of a group of community members and key stakeholders from the various sectors that represent the food system, including health, non-profit and advocacy organizations (Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, 2012).

The main mission or underpinning of almost all Food Policy Councils is to propose innovative solutions to improve the local food system, promoting economic development as well as making the food system more sustainable and socially just (Harper, Shattuck, Holt-Gimenez, Alkon, & Lambrick, 2009).

Rather than a multitude of advocates working in silos on individual issues within a troubled food system, FPCs endeavor to create a stage for coordinated and integrated action around local food systems.