COVID-19 responses: Food policy councils are “stepping in, stepping up, and stepping back"

Anne Palmer; Abiodun Atoloye; Karen Bassarab; Larissa Calancie; Raychel Santo; Kristen Cooksey Stowers

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2020.101.013

Anne Palmer Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Abiodun T. Atoloye University of Connecticut https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9825-4321
Karen Bassarab Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Larissa Calancie Tufts University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8943-5590
Raychel Santo Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7091-6263
Kristen Cooksey Stowers University of Connecticut https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7988-8011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2020.101.013

Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic, Food Policy Councils, Emergency Food, Food Insecurity, Hunger, Producers, School Food, Food Chain Workers, Racial Equity, Resilience

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, food policy councils (FPCs) have emerged as a critical structure for organizing community-based responses to multiple food system issues. Strong relationships with various food system stakeholders have proven essential in inspiring coordinated action. Using the early results of a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future survey of FPCs (2020), we discuss some of the accomplishments and contributions that 118 FPCs have made toward addressing hunger and supporting producers, school food, food chain workers, racial equity, and resilience in the United States and in tribal nations.

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Author Biographies

Anne Palmer, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Associate Scientist, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Program Director, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Abiodun T. Atoloye, University of Connecticut

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity

Karen Bassarab, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Senior Program Officer, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Bloomberg School of Public Health

Larissa Calancie, Tufts University

Research Assistant Professor, ChildObesity180, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

Raychel Santo, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Senior Program Coordinator, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Bloomberg School of Public Health

Kristen Cooksey Stowers, University of Connecticut

Assistant Professor of Health Disparities, University of Connecticut; Department of Allied Health Sciences; Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity; Health Disparities Institute