Oakland City Council approved $50,000 in funding to seed an Oakland Food Policy Council on Tuesday, December 19th, continuing the growing effort to evolve Oakland into the country’s most sustainable city.

The Food Policy Council will be tasked with recommending and advocating policies and programs to Oakland City Council that eliminates the root-causes of hunger, increases the number of food-sector living-wage jobs in Oakland and helps create a sustainable and localized food system, where up to 30% of Oakland's food is grown locally and food businesses drastically curb their waste.

The idea of a Food Policy Council was recommended by Oakland's Food System Assessment, a report commissioned by the Oakland Mayor's Office of Sustainability and authored by graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley.

"There is a growing need for cities to think about how local policy can support healthier, more sustainable and vibrant communities," said one of the Food Systems Assessment authors, Ms. Heather Wooten. "Food policy councils can help promote and coordinate systemic changes."

Oakland Unified School District wellness coordinator, Ms. Nora Cody, also expressed her support for the Food Policy Council. "Oakland's children and families will benefit from an increase in locally-sourced food, which helps our economy and our environment. The work of the Food Policy Council fits in well with our efforts to create and develop more school gardens, support farm-to-school programs, and teach children about the relationships between the earth, the environment, and their food."

The Food Policy Council will be comprised of members of the business community, community organizations, rural and regional organizations, health and education, and City staff.

Berkeley, CA, Eugene, OR and Toronto, ON, Canada all have city-wide Food Policy Councils - all of whom are introducing cutting-edge solutions to improve their cities respective food systems. As a result of Berkeley’s Food Policy Council, for instance, Berkeley’s school children are provided with fresh food every day as part of their school lunch program, and the goal is to have food that’s not only fresh , but organic and local.

It's time to have these visionary changes implemented not only in Oakland but across North America.

A copy of the Oakland Food System Assessment can be found at http://www.oaklandfoodsystem.pbwiki.com.

Copies of the Food Policy Council resolution and agenda report can be found at http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/meetings/2006/12/4999_A__Life_Enrichm....