Who We Are
Local Food Councils and Food System Partners from across New York State work together to coordinate policy action, uplift community voices and strengthen relationships. We do this through monthly meetings, quarterly public meetings, yearly in person gatherings and shared communication. We are committed to supporting each other and amplifying the voices within our communities. We are also committed to collaborating with state agencies, and broadening our focus to the national food system.
Our Local Food Council Members
-

Adirondack Food System Network
The Adirondack Food System Network is a collaborative regional food council. We are led by multiple organizations to better understand system-wide issues, identify gaps, and pursue realistic solutions to help cultivate a more resilient regional food system through collective, equitable partnership.
-

Broome County Food Council
The BCFC is composed of diverse partners, including people who have experienced food insecurity, with a goal to increase food security in Broome County through innovative & equitable solutions, lasting collaboration, education, communication, and advocacy.
-
Dutchess County Food Security Council
The Dutchess County Food Security Council is a collaborative committee focused on creating a sustainable and equitable food system for the community. The council works with local farmers, food producers, community organizations, and government agencies to address issues such as food security, environmental sustainability, and access to healthy food. Their efforts include promoting local agriculture, reducing food waste, and advocating for policies that benefit both the community and the environment.
-

Food Policy Council of Buffalo and Erie County
The mission of the Buffalo and Erie County Food Policy Council is to advocate for an equitable and sustainable food system for the people of Buffalo and Erie County.
-

Good Food Buffalo Coalition
Our 35 member organizations and 100+ individual supporters work collaboratively in a grassroots coalition to advance racial justice in the Western New York food system. We use the Good Food Purchasing Program as a tool to align the money that our public institutions spend on food with our public values, shifting those dollars to go to local farmers and food businesses that supply fresh, healthy, culturally relevant foods, that treat their workers fairly and animals humanely, and that embrace environmentally sustainable practices. Our work is grounded in the leadership of those who are most impacted by food injustice in our region.
-

Hudson Valley Food System Coalition
The Hudson Valley Food Systems Coalition strengthens the transformative capacity of people and organizations that are making widespread, systemic, and sustainable impacts on the Hudson Valley Food System by fostering diverse network connections and leveraging regional food resources, creating urgently needed pathways toward a just and regenerative food systems future
-

Jefferson County Food Policy Council
Jefferson County's Food Policy Council is dedicated to tackling food insecurity and fostering the growth of agricultural businesses within our community. By collaborating with stakeholders from diverse sectors of the food system, this council aims to ensure everyone has access to nutritious food while supporting the sustainable development of local agricultural businesses in the North Country.
-

Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative
The Newburgh Farm and Food Initiative is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to build a just and resilient food system that improves the environment and health of the community in the City of Newburgh.
-

NYC Food Policy Alliance
The New York City Food Policy Alliance is a network of NYC food system stakeholders and a catalyst for change. We accomplish this by engaging collaboratively and intentionally across sectors to foster relationships, advance education, and advocate for policies that ensure equitable access to a healthy, just, resilient, and sustainable food system.
-

Rochester Food Policy Council
The Rochester FPC is committed to cultivating a food system that promotes environmental health and ensures every resident enjoy equitable access to high-quality, health-supporting foods, as well as opportunities to engage in a thriving local food economy.
-

Schenectady County Food Council
Through community engagement, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration, the Schenectady County Food Council ensures a space for all to identify community-driven solutions for a nourishing and resilient food system. They envision a Schenectady County where all residents have equitable access to nourishing and culturally appropriate foods that are provided by a locally-rooted, regenerative, and resilient food system.
-

Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance (SOFSA)
The Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance (SOFSA) is a network of changemakers dedicated to reshaping our region’s food system. Grounded in principles of transformative justice and reciprocity, we cultivate connection, collaboration, and coordination across sectors to mobilize our collective resources towards a more just and sustainable food future in Syracuse, Onondaga County, and Onondaga Nation.
-

Tompkins Food Future
Tompkins Food Future is a coalition of food system changemakers working to advance a more resilient, equitable and healthy food system for all residents of Tompkins County. We bring awareness to food system challenges and opportunities, coordinate learning, sharing and action among partners, and foster collaboration to do more together than we can alone.
Our Food System Members
-

Food For The Spirit
Food for the Spirit (F4tS) is a Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC), and women/non-binary-led worker collective founded in 2018 to advance racial healing, ecological justice, and equitable food systems, founded with a commitment to relationship-building, collective power, and community-driven change led by marginalized people. Our mission is to build solidarity and collective power in partnership with frontline communities that value food sovereignty. We create transformative spaces where the leadership of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC), rural, and immigrant communities can thrive.
From its beginnings, the organization has functioned like connective tissue: supporting grassroots leaders, convening place-based networks, and engaging in policy and systems-change work grounded in lived experience and responsive to ever-increasing global crises. -

Community Food Advocates
Access to quality food is an essential human right. Lack of access is an income equity issue compounded by systemic racial and gender-based barriers.
We believe the government has a fundamental responsibility and an unmatched capacity to end poverty and its consequence: hunger. To that end, we advocate for high-impact public policy change that ensures all New Yorkers have access to healthy, affordable, plentiful, and culturally appropriate foods.