Giving Thanks

Two years ago I wrote an article in which I asked the question: Can we one day be a good food, instead of a fast food, nation? The question is not just one of aesthetics, but of public and environmental health. We all know too well the problems at the struggling ends of the food system: the smaller scale farmer struggling to make a living in the high risk world of farming; the disadvantaged communities struggling to eat well but where the only affordable food is highly processed junk, leading to an epidemic rise in malnourishment and diabetes. It is not only a national, but also an international problem: as our fast food exports to developing countries increase, so does their incidence of obesity and diabetes. It will require a shift in our national culture, for us to rethink our economic relationship to food in the way that is becoming fundamentally necessary.

In the two years since that article was published, I’m more convinced that it can be so. With the rise of food policy councils around the country – some estimates are that there are now around 270 – there is an increasing presence of collective impact models that work across sectors, across silos, and across other traditional barriers to engage policy makers and advocates in a common goal: a Good Food for All Agenda. The meaning of that phrase is simple, but speaks of profound systemic change. Its meaning is that there should be Good Food – food that is healthy, affordable, fairly and sustainably produced – available to everyone of all income levels.

Over three years ago, we created a paper with that title, with 55 recommendations, including one that there be a food policy council in Los Angeles. In January of 2011, the LA Food Policy Council had its first official meeting. In that time, it has advanced the Good Food for All Agenda in significant ways.

We serve as the backbone to a network of over 250 active and and 900 organizations and individuals, and have developed some groundbreaking, nationally recognized programs: (1) a unique Healthy Neighborhood Market Network - a training platform for small market owners, helping them to source and sell healthy produce; (2) a comprehensive, metric based Good Food Purchasing program, with well integrated, multi-faceted guidelines for large institutional food purchasers (read the recent LA Times article about the LAUSD experience here). We helped support the early convening efforts of the Street Food vending campaign, and our Urban Agriculture working group has made great strides recently in achieving its goals.

LAFPC is an innovative, adaptive, hybrid and entrepreneurial model. It is these attributes that are the hallmark of its notable success in the relatively short time of its existence.