The response of government agencies

Supermarket closures and related food access issues have been addressed on the state and city level by the formation of a NYS Food Policy Council, a NYC Supermarket Commission and a NYC Office of Food Policy and Internal Working group on Supermarkets. These bodies, which include the representation of numerous stakeholders in the food production and distribution system, are charged with making recommendations to the state and city government regarding policies that would improve food access in our communities.

 

The NYS Food Policy Council makes recommendations to the governor regarding policies that will ensure the availability of safe, fresh, nutritious, and affordable food for New Yorkers. It is composed of twenty-one members appointed by the Governor, representing all aspects of the food system. While focusing on increasing access to healthy food options for low-income residents, seniors, and children, the council also works to promote New York agricultural products to New York consumers. The council conducted listening sessions throughout New York State: in Albany, Syracuse, Lower Manhattan, Harlem, Binghamton, and Rochester. A second listening session was convened in Harlem, upon request by advocates, to ensure that community members were able to give testimony, in a neighborhood that had been severely affected by supermarket closures. The council’s Recommendations to Governor Patterson will be submitted on December 1, 2008.

The NYC Supermarket Commission was formed to address health disparities caused by inadequate access to healthy foods by creating policy recommendations to spur supermarket development in underserved communities. It is a private-public partnership composed of city and state agencies, supermarket owners, and labor, public health and children’s advocates. The Food Trust , a non-profit organization that has worked to address the problem of inadequate food access in Pennsylvania, convenes the commission with the NYC Food Policy Coordinator, the Food Industry Alliance and the Food Bank for New York City. The Commission will release its recommendations to the City Council, the Mayor’s Office, the Governor and both houses of the State Legislature in December 2008 or January 2009.

The position of Food Policy Coordinator was established in November 2006 by Mayor Bloomberg, tasked with expanding the availability of nutritious, affordable food in underserved communities, enhancing the nutritional standards followed by city agencies in feeding clients and staff, and improving access to food support programs. The Food Policy Coordinator oversees a Food Policy Task Force composed of internal working groups of City Agencies that consider nutritional standards, food access and affordability. The working group on Supermarkets looks at issues of access to healthy, affordable food in relation to supermarkets. The report, entitled “Going to Market”, released by the Department of City Planning in June 2008 and presented at the Harlem Supermarkets Town Hall was a project of this working group. Members of this working group also participate in the New York Supermarket Commission to share their insights and better coordinate their efforts with the food industry, labor and advocacy groups, state government, and economic development organizations.