The ideas in this report "seek to balance health, economic, and environmental needs, and present legislative next steps that will support a sustainable food system." It's the next steps that really interest me. Most importantly, the participants agreed on one thing: "New Yorkers deserve access to safe, affordable and healthy food, produced in an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable system." Amen. The whole world deserves that.
Some of the key recommendations of this report include:
- Establish urban agriculture as a priority in NYC
- Promote and support regional agriculture
- Increase the sale and consumption of regionally grown foods
- Increase the number and type of retail food outlets that deviate from the traditional grocery store model
- Incorporate preferences for locally-sourced food in NYC's procurement rules
- Educate New York City's children to become a new generation of healthy and environmentally-aware eaters
- Launch a series of composting initiatives
- Increase access to drinking water fountains
- Develop the local economy's food sector
- Create a Department of Food and Markets to coordinate and lead systemic reform
