Revolutionary Food Policy: The Good Food Purchasing Program

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel from Pexels

Imagine a world where children could rely on their schools to source healthy meals that are sourced by a system that treats the Earth and those inhabiting it in a fair, humane and sustainable fashion.

Surely, the ideal system aforementioned would improve the health of the planet and the well-being of people and livestock, a bold but attainable aspiration that would require patience, determination and group effort. Fortunately, this vision became tangible when the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) was adopted by the City of LA and LA Unified School District in 2012. 

The mission behind the policy is a clear one: to inspire major institutions to vote with their dollars for a food system that supports sustainable and fair suppliers. GFPP covers five value categories: local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, animal welfare and nutrition. A Good Food Provider verification seal is issued to institutions that meet at least the baseline standard in each of these five value categories. 

Let’s zoom in to each of these five core components by pairing them with their meanings. Local economies involves supporting diverse small- to mid-sized local farms that are family- and cooperative-run. Environmental sustainability includes promoting the employment of sustainable production systems and a low carbon and water footprint on the Earth. Valued workforce recognizes labor law compliance of employees involved in the production to consumption process. Animal welfare prioritizes the health and humane treatment of farm animals. Nutrition promotes consumption of healthy foods, which include vegetables, fruits, whole grains and minimally processed foods. 

Photo by Frank Meriño from Pexels 

This glimmer of hope for food systems is in large part thanks to the efforts of Paula Daniels who is the co-founder and chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing which began in July 2015, a spin-off from the LA Food Policy Council which Paula founded in 2011. Paula is a lawyer and public policy leader in environmental food and water policy with extensive experience in development, leadership and government. 

GFPP has since shed light on the need for this policy to be implemented on a national scale in communities of all sizes, a goal that resulted in remarkably positive outcomes. This policy gained so much traction that it has been adopted by five additional institutions and is actively campaigning in six locations throughout the United States. 

Farm2People encourages you to learn more about the Good Food Purchasing Program, their achievements, and Paula Daniels at goodfoodpurchasing.org. We also recommend that you participate in the LA Council meetings to get more involved!