Anne Palmer & Mark WinneJohns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

September 15, 2015

Good Laws, Good Food:Putting Food Policy to Work for

Our Communities

Overview

• Food Policy Networks project

• What is Food Policy?

• Activity: Placing Policies

• Examples of Food Policy

• Examples of how FPCs support anti-hunger issues

Education Research

Programs

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Food Policy Networks Project

The Food Policy Networks project supports efforts that can reform local, state, regional, and tribal food systems through effective public policy.NATIONAL LEVEL • FPN listserv – ~1000 subscribers (9/2015)• Food Policy Council Directory – online database of FPC• Food Policy Resource Database – +800 resources• Quarterly Communication & Outreach activitiesTRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE • Chesapeake Food Policy Leadership Institute • Pre-conference workshops, NESAWG, SSAWG,

Closing the Hunger Gap, etc.

OVERVIEW OF FOOD POLICY

What is Food Policy?• Laws and policies govern our environment and

behavior by outlining specific conduct, who should do it and how, and for what purpose

• “Food policy” describes the set of laws and regulations that inform how, why, and when food is produced, transported, distributed, and consumed

Different Levels of Policy

International

Federal

State

Local

Institution/ organization

Federal Level• Federal authority is limited

– Main relevant authority: Over goods that cross state lines

• For example:– Farm Bill– Nutrition Facts labeling– National School Lunch Program– Other federal resources, such as

food assistance programs & grants

State Level• State authority is broad

1. Can regulate everything the federal government does not

2. Can regulate where Congress has not acted• For example:

– In-home production of low-risk foods for sale within the state (“cottage food” operations)

– Administration of federal food assistance programs

– Local food procurement preference policies

Local Level• Local authority depends on how much

authority is allocated to local governments by the state government

• For example:– Zoning and land use planning– Incentives for local businesses (e.g., taxes and

grants)

Sources of Food Policy

Why this is important:1. Different types of policy-making2. Different entities making policy

Legislation Regulation

Definition Laws created by Congress or state legislatures; usually delegate power to an agency

Federal or state agencies fill in the details of these laws

Goals To address a social or economic need or problem by changing the law

To lay out rules and procedures to comply with the law

ACTIVITY:PLACING POLICIES

Placing Policiesfederal, state or local?

1. Eliminating the sales tax for produce2. Change zoning laws to allow for livestock3. Approving vendors to accept SNAP or WIC4. Allowing SNAP or WIC use at farmers markets5. Creating crop donation tax credit to corp or person

who donates crops to gleaning, food bank, etc. 6. Changing food code to require all grocery stores to

stock certain amount of staple foods.7. Universal free breakfast in the classroom

SPECIFIC AREAS OF FOOD POLICY

1. Food System Infrastructure2. Consumer Access and Consumer Demand3. Food Assistance Programs4. School Food and Education5. Land Use Planning6. Farm to Institution7. Food Safety and Processing8. Food Waste

Issue Areas

FOOD SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE

Food system infrastructure refers to the entities that shape the process along the chain from seed to food to consumption, including food production, processing, distribution, transportation, and retail

Production• Community Gardens• Farmer Training Programs

& Incentives

Processing• Mobile slaughter units• Community kitchens

Aggregation and Distribution• Small food distributors• Regional food hubs

Retail sales• Farmers markets/stands• Mobile grocery stores

Food waste management• Gleaning initiatives• Composting food waste

The food system

includes…

CONSUMER ACCESS

Consumer Access: methods of increasing ability of consumers to access food by providing more retail options, improving transportation, etc. (geographic and economic challenges)• New York City FRESH provides zoning and

financing incentives to promote healthy food retail

• Hartford FPC advocated for new bus route to transport residents to food retail

Consumer Demand Methods to influence consumer purchases, through labeling, taxes, and even outright bans. • Taxes:

– 34 states have higher taxes on sugar sweetened beverage

• Labeling:– California, Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, and

Tennessee have calorie labeling laws– Now federal labeling regulations proposed (FDA, 2011)

• Requirements:– Minneapolis, MN requires stores to stock staple foods

• Federal trans fat ban

FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

• Federal food assistance programs overcome economic barriers to consumer access– SNAP (formerly food stamps)– WIC– Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program– Farmers Market Nutrition Program

Examples• New Jersey expands access to SNAP by raising

eligibility threshold from 130% to 185% FPL • Vermont conducts home delivery for WIC

participants who are far from retailers• Massachusetts provides SNAP participants

$21 in fuel assistance (LIHEAP) to help households qualify for SNAP benefits

Example of Farm to Institution Policies: Procurement Preference

• General types of procurement laws: – Preference: directs state entities to prefer local food

products if the local food is, for example, not more than 10% more expensive than out-of-state food

• Types of preference: price preference; reasonableness preference; tie-goes-to-local; reciprocity

– Target/Benchmark: sets up a target for the amount of food that will be purchased from local producers

Examples• The Illinois legislature set a goal for schools to

purchase 10% and state agencies to purchase 20% of food from within the state by 2020 (see page 14 of your packet)

• Massachusetts has a price preference of 10% for food procured within the state

FOOD WASTE • 40% of food produced in the United States

goes uneaten, and globally 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year

Tax incentives • Iowa has tax credits for farmers who donate food to

charitable organizations Liability protections

• The federal Good Samaritan Food Donation Act offers civil and criminal liability protections for food donations, and many states offer protections above the federal floor

FPCS AND ANTI-HUNGER INITIATIVES

Feeding America members survey 46% of respondents are a member of FPC; represents ½ their network 16% (12) City-wide

21% (16) County-wide

11% (8) Regional

29% (22) State

9% (7) In the process

31% (23) Not a member

9% (7) Not a member but interested in learning more

–

Challenges:• Developing mission, goals,

strategic plan• Accountability • Time• Keep momentum, engage

members, maintain long-term focus for slow process of policy change

Successes:• Culture-building community

forums• Food Desert mapping • Build partnerships &

awareness• Evaluate & produce policies • Recommend services and

programs Unpublished data from Feeding America, 2014 , n=90

Gettysburg PA– Works closely with South Central Community Action

(food bank), businesses and members to understand importance of nutritious, affordable food

– Started Healthy Options: voucher program providing individuals living in the food gap (do not qualify for SNAP) with funds to spend at the Adams County Farm Fresh Markets

– Heavy focus on improving quality of food being offered through emergency sources: food pantries, gleaning, Campus Kitchens, Meals on Wheels, United Way “Bag the bounty” fundraiser

San Bernardino Food Policy Advisory Council

Their backbone organization is the San Bernardino Community Action Program (food bank and anti-hunger work)

• Doubled participation in Summer Meal Program (2013 to 2014)• Created a "Healthy Food Bank Policy" for the San Bernardino

Community Action Program food bank which has 177 member food pantry agencies

• Phase Two will extend the policy to those 177 members• Working with the county's 37 congregate food organizations

("soup kitchens") to improve the nutritional quality of the food served at those sites as well as the training of their staff

Cumberland Co Food Security Council “Increase access to food – preferably healthy and local - for vulnerable populations in Cumberland County by building/expanding community capacity.”

• Supported increased minimum wage in city of Portland, Maine

• Hosted forum on Child Nutrition Reauthorization with participation from USDA Northeast Regional Office.

• Hosted forum with USDA Undersecretary Kevin Concannon.

• Anti-hunger members (SOS, local food pantries)

Tarrant Co Food Policy CouncilFort Worth, TX

• Food bank is lead organization for FPC• “Food Access” is motivator; using food system &

policy lens• FPC has 4 "strategic teams": Assessment, Action,

Advocacy, Awareness. • Conducted food access study for county which is

being used for planning

San Diego Food System AllianceFood Recovery Working Group

• State law on organic waste passed• Data analysis of countywide food

waste data from each segment within the food system incl. cost benefit

• - Starting a countywide food rescue/ food runner program in San Diego County

• - Resource site for food recovery/ recycling solutions in San Diego County (with a dynamic directory)

• - Advocacy around source reduction/ decentralized composting

Food Waste Solutions Summit in Oct.

Kern County, Bakersfield CAMission “Ending chronic hunger and food insecurity in Kern County”• Started as an anti-hunger coalition and evolved into a

food system approach toward ending hunger• Poor history of collaboration in county • Spent significant time building relationships within the

group of very diverse members including big ag. • Community Food System Assessment being conducted

that will help them better understand current situation and policy opportunities.

• Rural 4 county council located in the “frontier” • National Center for Frontier communities backbone org• Works w/ county governments to research regional

needs, organize more effective strategies • Building strong ties to federal, state and local officials• One goal is to improve commodity food distribution in

area – Road Runner food truck • Increase Double-Up bucks for SNAP at FMs

San Francisco Food Security Task Force• Advisory body to the SF Board of Supervisors• Central hub for connecting organizations and individuals

focusing on eliminating food insecurity and promoting healthy food for all San Franciscans.

• Prepared an Assessment of Food Security in 2013As a result, Mayor and the Board of Supervisors allocated an additional $4.8 millionin the 2014-15 city budget to address high priority food security needs.

North Alabama Food Policy Council• Housed in Food Bank of North Alabama

– Starting a healthy food initiative in conjunction with regional farmers' markets.

– Secured SNAP benefits acceptance at several farmers' markets.

– Influencing local food policy legislation and city zoning ordinances.

New Jersey: School Food • Passaic Co FPC

– Held multiple public summits advocating for the expansion of School Breakfast & Summer Food

– Paterson Schools adopting the community eligibility provision for school food programs

• New Brunswick Community Food AllianceImplementation of Universal Breakfast After the Bell in K-8 schools

Thank you!