from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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The food system in its current form presents challenges for some individuals and the communities to which they belong, contributing to health inequities. Insufficient access to healthy, culturally appropriate foods, inadequate transportation infrastructure, and a lack of farmers markets that accept SNAP benefits are a few examples of challenges. To address these and other related issues, many communities have formed food policy councils (FPCs). FPCs bring together diverse partners to examine and offer recommendations for changing policies, systems, and environments (PSEs) to strengthen the food system at the local or state level.
Since the first FPC was created in 1982, FPCs have grown in popularity, with more than 300 active councils in the U.S., according to the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s Food Policy Networks dashboard. Communities have formed food policy councils to address inequities in the food system by advancing PSE change strategies, including through the SNAP-Ed program. But this approach has not been studied. To address this gap, the authors employed a case study approach of seven South Carolina groups interested in starting FPCs in partnership with SNAP-Ed. Their research is shared in the article Readiness, outcomes, and capacity for future sustainability of food policy councils created through SNAP-Ed: A case study.
KEY FINDINGS -
Despite overall increased engagement, FPCs that reported having priority populations lead or drive their activities remained limited at the study's conclusion, with most still in the planning stages of executing this approach.
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The most common PSE strategies that the FPCs in this study chose to focus on (such as edible gardens, a new food bank or pantry, or a new healthy retail outlet) were related to common priorities that FPCs throughout the U.S. have identified in surveys (e.g., healthy food access, anti-hunger and anti-poverty, economic development).
- A common theme of FPC sustainability assessments was that SNAP-Ed funding alone was not adequate to support FPCs.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH
The findings have implications for SNAP-Ed programs as well as programs outside of SNAP-Ed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have begun including FPCs as an encouraged approach within their State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) program. Potential activities for expanding nutrition incentive and produce prescription programs include to “strengthen or launch regional, state, or local food policy councils of diverse, cross-sector food system partners.”
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With a looming farm bill and a decrease in SNAP-Ed funding, this case study from South Carolina on the efficacy and sustainability of food policy councils is as timely as ever. Initial findings suggest a multisectoral approach is best when it comes to building equity and engagement across our cities and towns. Read the entire case study for free @JAFSCD: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.143.011
#foodpolicycouncil #SNAPED #Sustainability #engagement #farmbill #Medicaid |
Photo above: Elisha Poulsen, Nutrition Educator for the Spirit Lake Food Distribution Program, with nutrition students. Photo by Don Hamilton for USDA and available on Flickr. |
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"In October 2023, I was very fortunate to have been invited to attend a Global Indigenous Youth Forum where Indigenous youth from all over the world gathered. At the forum, there was a large focus on environmentalism, Indigenous youth advocacy, and protecting cultural diets and Indigenous food systems through combining traditional and Western science. . . .
"From my community, I have had an older male family member consume Inonotus obliquus tea, which our culture believes may have contributed to his recovery from prostate cancer, and he currently lives cancer-free. Potential traditional therapies should further be investigated. Several of these physiological benefits have been seen through community-based initiatives that aim to increase the consumption of cultural diets (Ka’ula et al., 2023). Traditional Indigenous food systems promote several positive health outcomes, such as the potential anticancer effects of chaga, which extend beyond physiological health. But cultural diets have not been properly utilized to prevent diet-related diseases and promote wellness in global health. . . .
"If [future] consultations are a democratic process and food systems are to be revitalized, then Indigenous youth need to be included in the food systems and decision-making processes. It is fundamental for Indigenous youth globally to participate in this work because regional differences in food systems require different policies and decision-making processes (Indigenous Youth Caucus, 2023). . . ." SHARE ON YOUR SOCIALS
Traditional Indigenous food systems promote several positive health outcomes, such as the potential anticancer effects of chaga, which extend beyond physiological health. But cultural diets have not been properly utilized to prevent diet-related diseases and promote wellness in global health. To achieve meaningful and democratic development of food systems, Indigenous youth need to be included in the food systems and decision-making processes. Read the entire commentary for free at @JAFSCD: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.143.039
#Indigenous #foodsystems #TEK |
Photo above: Attendees at the White House Tribal Youth Forum, Washington, D.C., Nov. 14, 2022; photo by Christophe D. Paul/USDA and available on Flickr. |
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The cover image represents the University of Kentucky's innovative employee-benefit community supported agriculture (CSA) program, which provides a voucher to offset the cost for employees and retirees. |
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Books Available for Review
Need some summer reading and like to review one and share your thoughts with JAFSCD’s readers? Fill out the quick review query form linked on our home page (right margin, Engage with JAFSCD > Propose a Book Review). You can also use the form to suggest other films, books, or reports for review. The selected reviewer will receive free access to the film or the book (hard copy or e-book).
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Nourishing Resistance: Stories of Food, Protest, and Mutual Aid, edited by Wren Awry
From the publisher:
"From the cooks who have fed rebels and revolutionaries to the collective kitchens set up after ecological disasters, food has long played a crucial role in resistance, protest, and mutual aid. Nourishing Resistance centers these everyday acts of culinary solidarity. Twenty-three contributors—cooks, farmers, writers, organizers, academics, and dreamers—write on queer potlucks, rebel ancestors, disability justice, Indigenous food sovereignty, and the fight against toxic diet culture, among many other topics. . . . They look to the past . . . and the future, speculating on postcapitalist worlds that include both high-tech collective farms and herbs gathered beside highways."
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Junk Food Politics: How Beverage and Fast Food Industries Are Reshaping Emerging Economies, by Eduardo J. Gómez
From the publisher:
"Why do sugary beverage and fast food industries thrive in the emerging world? . . . Despite government commitment to eradicating noncommunicable diseases and innovative prevention programs aimed at reducing obesity and type 2 diabetes, sugary beverage and fast food industries are thriving. But political leaders in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, India, China, and Indonesia are reluctant to introduce policies regulating the marketing and sale of their products, particularly among vulnerable groups like children and the poor. Why?"
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How to Create a Sustainable Food Industry, by Melissa Barrett, Massimo Marino, Francesca Brkic, and Carlo Alberto Pratesi
From the publisher:
"This book presents a practical guide to help businesses navigate the complex topics of sustainability in the food industry. The book takes you on a journey along the food value chain, from farm to fork, exploring key opportunities to increase positive impacts and circularity at each step of the journey. Written by a team of authors with decades of experience in the food industry and academia, it provides guidance on how to analyze sustainability across the value chain and life cycle of a food product and how to design, implement and communicate strategies to customers. Furthermore, the book shows that there are not always straightforward solutions, but rather choices and trade-offs that require an understanding of what is best suited to the product, customers and business in question."
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Be part of a sustainable solution!
Our food system is not sustainable and must be transformed. Climate change, corporate control, resource depletion, and food insecurity threaten communities worldwide. Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Sustainable Food Systems & Security (SFSS) graduate certificate equips you with the knowledge and perspectives to make an impact as a sustainable food system leader.
This six-course online program critically examines contemporary food systems through a sustainability lens, systems thinking, and real-world change. Explore food systems reform, grassroots movements, and community engagement, culminating in an applied community capstone course to help shape a more sustainable future where you live.
Explore KPU’s SFSS program | |
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