On March 16, researchers from Hunter College, CUNY SPH, and the Columbia University Teachers College released seven policy briefs, building on two years of research examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on New York City’s food policies and programs and proposing specific policy measures and strategies the mayor and City Council should consider to build a stronger, healthier, more just, and sustainable food system.
The researchers unveiled the reports at an event moderated by Lisa Held, a Senior Staff Reporter at Civil Eats best known for her work writing about the food system, agriculture, and the environment
The briefs present 28 concrete recommendations to reduce food insecurity; improve healthy food access; reduce promotion and availability of unhealthy food; support a robust, sustainable, and equitable food infrastructure; protect and empower food workers; advance food planning; and increase citizen control and ownership of the food system.
- Goal 1: Ensuring New York City’s Food Policies and Programs Reduce Food Insecurity for All New York City Residents
- Goal 2: Improving Healthy Food Access for All New York City Residents
- Goal 3: Reducing Promotion and Ubiquity of Unhealthy Food in Community, Institutional, and Retail Settings to Reduce the Staggering Burden of Diet-Related Disease in NYC
- Goal 4: Promoting Recovery, Growth, and Resiliency That Builds a More Robust, Sustainable, and Equitable Infrastructure for New York City’s Food Distribution, Retail, and Service Economies
- Goal 5: Ensuring All NYC Food Workers Have Safe Working Conditions, the Right to Organize, and Sufficient Pay and Benefits
- Goal 6: Improve Coordination and Monitoring of Food Policy in New York City to Improve Health and Equity
- Goal 7: Increasing Community and Public Control and Ownership of New York City’s Food System
This work was supported by several funders organized by Community Food Funders, a philanthropic organizing project that supports healthier food systems in the New York metropolitan region.
