Food Policy Councils

Broadly defined, food policy is a set of collective decisions made by governments at all levels, businesses, and organizations that affect how food gets from the farm to the table. A food policy can be as broad as a federal regulation on food labeling or as local and specific as a zoning law that lets city dwellers raise honeybees. Food policy councils bring together all stakeholders in a community food system to help shape food policy.

More than 30 years ago, some academic experts and food activists began to see that the food system was intersecting with more and more parts of our lives. Environmental issues, public health, issues of social and economic justice, and other concerns were connected with this mammoth system, one with huge ...