ABSTRACT
This chapter shares a brief history of Food Policy Councils (FPCs), which originated in the United States in 1982. The data cited in the chapter is from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future’s Food Policy Network project biennial surveys unless otherwise noted. It weaves together salient points from relevant U.S. and international research. The chapter shares the essential functions of FPCs: convening, education, and advocacy. It drives home the point that because there is no federal, state, or local “Department of Food,” FPCs are essential to government’s ability to adequately address complex issues that concurrently impact food production, food processing, food access, food waste management, and more.
