Where We Are Now and How We Got Here

The Florida Food Policy Council is a grassroots organization working toward fair and healthy food for all Floridians. We are a registered nonprofit with the State of Florida and a registered 501(c)3 organization. We are a volunteer run organization with over 150 members from various sectors of the state's food system including academia, agriculture, health, hospitality, non-profit, and the public. 

The inaugural general meeting of the membership occurred on Sunday, April 3, 2016 in Fort Myers, in concert with the UF/IFAS Regional Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference. In the subsequent twelve months the Council held regional meetings in the NE, Central, NW, and NE regions, garnering over 100 members ranging from chefs, to food producers, to nonprofit representatives, to government employees. The Council has received support amongst such agencies as the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Blue, UF/IFAS, Florida Organic Growers, and others. 

During the April 3 meeting, members agreed on a Committee structure to include an Organizational Committee, a Policy Committee, a Communications Committee, and an Executive Committee. Additional achievements included development of policy agenda recommendations from the membership, which proved to be an ongoing theme at each future membership meeting. The recommendations from each session are given to the Policy Committee for compilation and review. 

In 2017, the Council evaluated the data from the regional meetings and used that feedback to form a strategic plan. 

We held the first annual meeting in Sanford on June 24th, 2017. 

The board meeting in Orlando on Nov 13th, 2017 ratified our action steps.