Recap: Food Policy Councils

Posted on April 6, 2026

On March 24th CFF hosted a briefing titled Food Policy Councils: Food Justice, Democracy, and Civic Engagement. Our co-sponsors were New York Health Foundation, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Philanthropy New York, Engage New York, and Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders

We started with an introduction by Julia McCarthy of New York Health Foundation, who explained why her organization chooses to fund food policy councils, and the important role she sees for them in the larger food system.

Marissa Baron of Food Policy Networks  provided the framing on food policy councils, answering what they are and the type of impact they have. She discussed the many different ways they are established and operated, and shared stats from a national perspective including their dramatic growth in recent years.

Next we heard from Laureen Husband of the Better Food Policy Fund, a group dedicated to bringing more resources to food policy councils in the United States. Laureen talked about the need for and creation of the Fund, sharing that 70% of food policy councils operate with annual budgets less than $10,000.

With that conext in mind, Marissa moderated a panel discussion with two food policy councils in our region. Maura Ackerman of Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance and Jeanine Cava of NJ Food Democracy Collaborative took turns answering her questions, and sharing the unique stories and perspectives of their two councils.

The session closed with Q&A from the audience.

During the session, we were joined by visual notetaker Reb Garofano of Veggie Doodle Soup. Visual notetaking is one creative way food policy councils help translate ideas across sectors and communities so people can see connections and move work forward together. Reb is a dietician and visual communicator who shares her work under the handle @veggiedoodlesoup. See SOFSA’s Art as Organizing for more info. Click on the image below to see what she produced.

Slides used are visible in the recodring below, but you can also download the presentations from Food Policy Networks and Better Food Policy Fund. You may view the speaker bios and agenda here.

The following time markers can be used to jump to different sections of the video:

  • Start – Welcome and intro by Adam Liebowitz, CFF Director
  • 7:00 – Julia McCarthy, New York Health Foundation
  • 10:20 – Marissa Baron, Food Policy Networks
  • 22:00 – Laureen Husband, Better Food Policy Fund
  • 29:15 – Panel with Maura Ackerman (SOFSA) & Jeanine Cava (NJ Food Democracy Collaborative)
  • 1:06:50– Q&A

Resources shared during the session & after