Actions Panel
Food Access and the Farm Bill: Fairfax Food Council 2017 Spring Summit
Date and time
Location
Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center
3740 Old Lee Highway Fairfax, VA 22030Description
Are you interested in how the Farm Bill and USDA policies affect food access in Fairfax County? Did you know that "Overall, nutrition spending makes up 80% of the total budget for the Farm Bill. As described by Snap to Health, "Nutrition in the United States is thus very much determined by the provisions, policies and funding allocations in the U.S. Farm Bill."
Join us as we welcome food policy expert, Kate Fitzgerald, as she helps us understand this bill and the implications for our community.
Learn more about the Fairfax Food Council's efforts to improve food access and healthy eating in our community. There will be opportunities for small group discussion related to the Farm Bill and FFC work group activities.
Please join us!
Seating is limited. Please register by May 19th.
Keynote Speaker Bio:
Kate Fitzgerald works on federal policy that links family farms with consumers to achieve better public health and economic opportunity.
She has worked at the local, state and national levels designing and implementing programs that increase access to affordable, nutritious food including establishing farmers’ markets authorized to accept SNAP and WIC benefits in low-income communities; developing farm to school programs; studying the feasibility of different kinds of healthy food retailers for underserved areas; and creating food policy councils to coordinate public and private agencies to improve the food system in their regions.
Kate initiated the Food Assistance Programs in the Texas Department of Agriculture in 1988 and founded the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, TX in 1993. She is now based in Washington, DC and helps non-profit, educational and government groups inform national food and farm policy. She serves on the Advisory Boards for the Food Policy Network, Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, Nutrition and Healthy Food Choices Committee for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and the Crossroads Community Food Network.
Organized by
The Fairfax Food Council is a coalition of citizens, nonprofits, faith partners, county agencies and businesses that advocate and promote food system and policy changes benefitting Fairfax communities, especially underserved communities.