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Food Policy Council (FPC) of Buffalo & Erie County » History

History

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From 2009 to 2013, local food system partners championed for the need for a Food Policy Council in Buffalo and Erie County.  Key events in the formation of the council are listed below.

Dec. 2009 - Dec. 2013 - Healthy Kids Healthy Communities, Buffalo (HKHC)

Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation whose primary goal is to implement healthy eating and active living policy- and environmental-change initiatives that can support healthier communities for children and families. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities places special emphasis on reaching children who are at highest risk for obesity on the basis of race, ethnicity, income and/or geographic location. Forty-nine communities across the United States were chosen for healthy eating and active living initiatives.

The collaborative group of partners in Buffalo chosen to be recipients of the HCHK grant include: the BNMC, Inc., the City of Buffalo, GoBike Buffalo, Massachusetts Avenue Project, Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, and the Wellness Institute. This collaboration led to the implementation of healthy eating and active living policy- and environmental-change initiatives throughout the city – including the food policy summit and eventual creation of the Buffalo Erie Food Policy Council.

Of the various documents that resulted from HKHC in Buffalo, another outcome was the formation of the Youth Advisory Council, or YAC. 

2010 - Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) was created to give a voice to Buffalo's youth and their concerns over issues of health. The YAC took on issues such as land use planning, public transportation (specifically youth bus passes), school meals, and school wellness plans. The YAC began with four high school students and expanded to include partners from the Massachusetts Avenue Project, Tapestry School, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., Cornell Cooperative Extension's Urban 4-H program, Buffalo Public Schools, the Community Health Workers Network, and the Partnership for Public Good. Through this expanded partnership the YAC has since acquired representatives from nine Buffalo schools and works on a variety of issues.

Notable successes included:

  • Creating youth seats on the Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County, the Buffalo City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board, and the Buffalo Public Schools Wellness Committee.
  • Hosting a youth land use training session to educate high school students about land use planning, and how to participate effectively in the public meetings being held on the proposed changes.
  • Contributing to a policy for the planned removal of the old, unhealthy vending machines throughout the Buffalo Public School District.

(Reference: Hoehner CM, Brennan LK. Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Case Report. St. Louis, MO: Transtria LLC; 2014. http://www.transtria.com/hkhc. Accessed March 1 2017.)

September 20-21, 2011

The first Buffalo Food Policy Summit was held over a two day span as a result of the collaborative partnerships of the following organizations, many of which were partners in the Healthy Kids Healthy Communities (HKHC) grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:

  • The Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo
  • W.D. Henry & Sons Farm
  • Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab in University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning
  • Good Earth, Inc
  • Healthy Kids- Healthy Communities – Buffalo Partnership (a program of The Robert Wood  Johnson Foundation)
  • Oles Family Farm
  • Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.
  • Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County
  • Buffalo City Councilmembers Michael LoCurto and David Rivera
  • Be Healthy Institute
  • Dash’s Market
  • Erie County Department of Environment and Planning
  • Erie County Department of Health
  • Western New York Environmental Alliance
  • New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group
  • Civic Engagement and Policy Research Initiative in UB College of Arts and Sciences
  • Western New York Law Center
  • Grassroots Gardens of Western New York
  • Massachusetts Avenue Project

This two-day event included a policymaker summit, a public forum, a food systems bus tour, and a research roundtable. The event had over 230 participants, including 50 at a policy-maker summit. The summit led to local Common Council members requesting assistance in forming a local Food Policy Council, and one council member committed to a healthy communities platform in 2012.

(Reference: Hoehner CM, Brennan LK. Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Case Report. St. Louis, MO: Transtria LLC; 2014. http://www.transtria.com/hkhc. Accessed March 1 2017.)

July 24, 2012

During a Session on this date the Common Council of the City of Buffalo adopted a resolution (No. 133) that resulted in the creation and appointment of the Buffalo-Erie County Food Policy Steering Committee.   The Steering Committee included the following representatives from the local food system:

Food Producers:

  • Dan Henry WD Henry and Sons Eden
  • Daniel Oles Oles Family Farm Alden

Processing:

  • Tucker Curtin Curtin Family Restaurants Buffalo

Distributor/Wholesaler:

  • Robert Mercurico James Desidero Inc Wholesale Fruit and Produce Buffalo

Consumer Advocates:

  • Diane Picard Massachusetts Avenue Project BuffaloWest Side
  • Jill Chiacchia Be Healthy Institute Hamburg
  • Joy McDuffie Buffalo East SideFood Retail

Food Retail:

  • Mark Maloney Dashs Market Buffalo Clarence Tonawanda East Amherst

Waste/Disposal:

  • Guenter Burkhardt Good Earth Horticulture Lancaster

City of Buffalo Appointee

  • Brendan Mehaffy Office of Strategic Planning

Erie County Appointees:

  • Dr Gale Burstein Dept of Health Designee: Cheryll Moore
  • Maria Whyte Dept of Environment Planning Designee: Mark Rountree

Food Systems Expert:

  • Dr Samina Raja University at Buffalo 

August 7, 2012

  • The city clerk certified the Buffalo-Erie County Food Policy Steering Committee as the entity responsible for presenting recommendations for creating a food policy council to the Common Council by the end of 2012.
  • Buffalo’s Common Council Resolution No.133 (8/7/12) in support of the creation and appointment of the Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County’s Steering Committee
  • The steering committee for the Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County resulted from the Food Policy Summit, which was planned by partners in the HKHC.

May 2013

  • Buffalo Erie Food Policy Council was established through a unanimous vote as a sub commission of the Erie County Board of Health. It was created in order to provide local governments (e.g., legislative bodies and executive agencies) with an advisory body that would be able to provide expert information on policies that could improve the local food system. The initiation of the Food Policy Council was a major accomplishment of the partnership

October 23 - 24, 2013

  • The second Food Policy Summit was framed as an economic development opportunity, served to improve/build relationships with policy-makers engaged in economic development, and helped kick off the Food Policy Council by introducing it publicly to stakeholders, including policy-makers. More than 250 people attended the events of the 2nd summit. 

October 29, 2013

  • During a session on this date the Common Council of the City of Buffalo adopted a resolution (No. 58) recognizing the creation of the Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County. The Common Council also committed to a relationship with the FPC in which advice would be sought and reccommendations received in matters pertaining to the local food system.