Jefferson County's Food Policy Council
Join the Fight Against Food Insecurity in Jefferson County
Jefferson County's Food Policy Council (FPC) aims to combat food insecurity in the North Country by promoting comprehensive responses to local food access, farm, and nutrition issues.
With a focus on the needs of low-income individuals, the FPC's goal is to increase food security and improve self-reliance by bringing together the entire food system to assess strengths, establish linkages, and create sustainable systems.
Revolutionizing the Local Food System in Jefferson County
To leverage comprehensive and cooperative approaches among local stakeholders to tackle complex food system problems, the FPC aims to encompass:
- Food Production: technology, collaboration, best practices, fair market access, land, affordable equipment, labor
- Food Processing: transportation, maximizing nutritional value, environmentally friendly packaging
- Economic Development: promotion of the local food system, incubation of new food businesses, trying agri-tourism to job creation
- Food Procurement: equitable distribution to regions with low-income families
- Food Access: equal access and affordability for all families, collaboration with nonprofits and retailers to cover rural areas
- Workforce Development: creating an agile and innovative workforce, promoting entrepreneurship
- Governance and Policy: influencing state and local laws and policies to guarantee fair practice that provides equitable access to all residents and businesses
Get Involved! Our Regional Food Systems Project Starts Now
To achieve its objectives, the FPC is implementing a 2022-2025 Regional Food Systems Partnership project that includes meeting the specific needs of low-income individuals by expanding access to fresher, more nutritious food supplies, increasing self-reliance of communities to provide for their own food needs, and promoting comprehensive responses to local food and nutrition issues.
The implementation project will generate widespread consciousness about local food, local producers, and food resources across all community sectors. This will be achieved through the Fresh and Healthy Initiative, which includes the following actions:
- Expanding mobile food pantry reach from one town to 22 towns in Jefferson County to implement mobile delivery of food pantry packages.
- Expanding Stewart's Shops nutritious food offerings in five stores to promote nutritious food accessibility in small, underserved communities through partner convenience stores.
- Increasing the use of SNAP/EBT and other food resource programs at farmers markets by raising the number of farmers markets accepting SNAP and other programs from one to five.
Further goals are focused on meeting specific state, local, or neighborhood food and agricultural needs for infrastructure improvement and development, planning for long-tern solutions, and more.
Making a Lasting Impact: Join Jefferson County's Food Policy Council
Join the Jefferson County Food Policy Council in its commitment to connect diverse sectors of the food system to meet the needs of those facing food insecurity. The FPC is seeking public, private, and non-profit expertise to make a lasting impact on local food access.
Last updated April 21, 2023