top of page

Food Policy Council: Promising Developments

Updated: Oct 29, 2021

Thoughts from Our September 2021 Meeting


The Food Policy Council meets every other month for a general meeting to share updates among our council members and plan future efforts.


At our Food Policy Council meetings, we sometimes use check-ins to help us check the pulse on our collective impact and figure out the target for our next steps.


We asked the attendees at the September meeting,

What is one thing happening in our regional food system that you think is promising?

Read on for the hopeful signs our council members identified in our current work.


Working Together

  • "Collaboration with the healthcare system, like the Healthcare Collaborative and hospitals, including St. Elizabeth's and Children's"

  • "Collaboration between healthcare and fresh locally grown foods that allows us to get those foods to our patients (specifically: Good Samaritan Free Health Center receiving produce from EarthConnection)"

  • "I get to see all of the efforts in this space! Aramark has agreed to donate pies to support Meals on Wheels. UC Service Learning Co-op is paying students to work in non-profit organizations"

  • "Projects are overlapping, and we’re getting on the same page!"

  • "Share best practices, collaborate—the only way we are going to make change. This group is the catalyst for that."

  • "Collaborations with La Soupe."

Healthy, Local Food

  • "GoNAPSACC, a program from UNC designed to improve practices, and also has policy and environment aspects to it. Regional extension services is exploring implementing this or similar programming."

  • "Nutrition incentives!"

  • "We almost have too much going on in farm-to-school now, so organizing it is now the exciting challenge!"

  • "More urban ag is happening, even beyond Cincinnati too! Hyperlocal fresh food infrastructure is critical (see: COVID)."

Institutional Purchasing

  • "The ability to buy local apples instead of Washington State apples, due to the changes in our organization and the supply chain"

  • "The fact that this organization exists is promising, and modeling what CPS has done at different scales to leverage our purchasing power and make institutional change."

  • "Increased availability of local food in schools and making it easier for them. We've come a long way in the last five years!"

Equity and Inclusion

  • "Concerted efforts toward equity and inclusion of African American leaders in various areas."

  • "We have a lot of work left to do, but equity and inclusion are explicit in our conversations, work, and planning. That gives me hope."

🧅


What do you find most promising about our region's food system? Share this post on social media with your response and tag Green Umbrella!

bottom of page