POLICY DEVELOPMENT

We advance policies and advocate for public funding that support an equitable, sustainable food system.

Over 1.7 million New Yorkers lack access to healthy food options. This isn’t just a food issue; it’s a complex economic and social problem that reflects issues of structural racism and inequality. These disparities in physical and financial access to healthy food are systemic problems caused and exacerbated by public policy. To solve these problems, we need policy solutions.

Our policy and advocacy priorities are to improve healthy food access for New Yorkers, especially in low income communities of color; make the food policy making process more inclusive and equitable; advocate for funding and support for programs led by communities of color that advance food equity, justice, and sovereignty; defend and expand resources for key federal safety net programs to ensure fair access to healthy food for all; and support economic policies proven to lift families out of poverty, create living wage jobs, create food business ownership opportunities, and build wealth of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals and communities.

Our current advocacy campaigns focus on advancing a new Farm Bill that centers racial equity and supports new BIPOC farmers, expanding access to food benefits for immigrant New Yorkers, and increasing public investment in the local food economy.