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Local Food Systems and Food Policy Councils

A growing number of local food advocates have become concerned about the impacts of the current food system on our health, our environment, and our economies. Many advocates seek to address the system’s environmentally damaging practices, inequitable distribution of healthy foods, and lack of opportunity for civic engagement in the current model of food production and consumption. Solving these challenges often requires healthy, environmentally sustainable, and economically and socially just food policies.  

Our Approach

The Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) supports local food system policy by partnering closely with local policymakers, stakeholders, and coalitions to build the capacity of local actors to advance food policy change.

As part of this work, FLPC works to build and strengthen Food Policy Councils. A Food Policy Council is a group of stakeholders from diverse backgrounds – government officials, parents, doctors, teachers, and nonprofit organizations – formed to support food system policy development. These groups hold tremendous potential to influence and affect change in local food policy that support our health, environment, and economy.

A Spotlight on Boston

With FLPC’s roots in the greater Boston area, we are proud to support local food policy systems in several ways, including:

1. FLPC often partners with the Boston Mayor’s Office of Food Justice (OFJ), conducting research, preparing white papers, and providing trainings and other technical support, as needed.

2. FLPC supported the re-launch of, and participates in, the Boston Food Access Council, which aims to engage a range of stakeholders and constituents in developing new policies and programs around food access in Boston. 

3. FLPC is a member of the Boston Good Food Purchasing Program Coalition, which advocates for value-driven procurement policies and practices at Boston-area institutions.

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