FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 21, 2016

PRESS CONTACT: Michelle Gomez (850) 766-6505

PHOTOS: www.Facebook.com/FLFPC

LOCAL FOOD POLICY ON STATEWIDE TOUR, STOPS IN ORLANDO

ORLANDO, Fla – The newly re-formed Florida Food Policy Council is on a membership tour, setting meetings around the state to encourage participation and highlight local food initiatives. On Sunday, September 11, the tour will make a stop in Orlando, holding its third membership event at East End Market from 12pm to 5pm.

Clayton Ferrara, the CEO and Executive Director of IDEAS for Us, an Orlando-based organization working in U.S. communities and abroad to solve global environmental issues, will facilitate the meeting. The award-winning organization runs multiple grassroots initiatives that address energy, water, food, waste, and ecology issues through multi-generational education and action. Much like FLFPC organizers are looking to do.

“We are building a member-driven network,” said Rachel Shapiro, FLFPC Chair and owner of Integrous Health Solutions in Broward County. “This is a grassroots effort to develop a nourishing, inclusive food system for all people in the State of Florida.”

FLFPC will convene in Orlando immediately following the third annual Florida Food Summit, which takes place September 9th and 10th at East End Market. Also the site of the inaugural summit, East End Market has become an anchor of local food commerce and activism in Central Florida. It is a fitting location for the new push to unite individuals in the statewide effort.

Stopping first in Fort Myers in April, and then in Tallahassee in July, the all-volunteer council has collected 100 members. Representing many of Florida’s 67 counties and food system sectors, these members are focused on crafting a concerted effort to advance local food policy around the state.

The Ft. Myers meeting featured food system celebrity Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty. In Tallahassee, the meeting was facilitated by local leader Bakari McClendon, who contributed to the Michigan Good Food Charter and serves on the executive team of the North American Food Systems Network.

Additional membership meetings are planned in Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale. The affordable annual fees range from $10 for students to $60 for organizations. Membership includes admission to events throughout the year. More information, including Orlando meeting details and how to join the council, is available at www.FLFPC.org.