Please see the information below from the Washington Sustainable Food\u00a0& Farming Network on the exciting developments on a possible Washington Food Policy Council.<\/p>\n
Also, click here to check out a blog\u00a0post<\/a>\u00a0that discusses the need for a Washington Food Policy Council.<\/p>\n As we alerted you last week,\u00a0 Senate Bill 6343, which would create a Washington Food Policy Council, is scheduled for a hearing\u00a0 this Thursday Jan 21st at 3:30 pm.\u00a0 If your organization is interested in submitting an endorsement letter, please contact Ellen Gray at the email address below ASAP.<\/p>\n Over 6.6 million people live in Washington State and every day each of us depends on a complex food system of farmers, processors, distributors and retailers to bring us the food we eat.\u00a0 What is wrong with our food system? <\/strong><\/p>\n Why do we need a Food Policy Council?<\/strong> Our food system in Washington State is not working well and we need to do better. Food Policy Councils (FPCs) are being established at local & state levels throughout the country to address the food system challenges.\u00a0 Working across the different sectors of our food system, FPCs coordinate action among the many stakeholders that can expand production, consumption and access to Washington grown foods.\u00a0\u00a0 Multiple benefits can ensue, including job creation, keeping food dollars and tax revenue in-state, and improved health based upon improved access to healthy food.\u00a0 A FPC would also position Washington State to take advantage of new federal dollars that support improved nutrition and food system integration. For more information or to have your organization endorse Senate Bill 6343, please contact:<\/p>\n Ellen Gray Please see the information below from the Washington Sustainable Food\u00a0& Farming Network on the exciting developments on a possible Washington Food Policy Council. Also, click here to check out a blog\u00a0post\u00a0that discusses the need for a Washington Food Policy Council. The Case for a Washington Food Policy Council As we alerted you last week,\u00a0 Senate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe Case for a Washington Food Policy Council<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u00a0
\nWhat is a Food Policy Council and why do we need one?<\/strong> Our food system in Washington State is not working well and we need to do better. We lose 70,000 acres of farmland every year, the average age of our farmer is 57, our kids are sick from diet related illnesses, and many families go hungry. For decades these failings were seen as isolated problems to be dealt with by an wide array of state and local agencies. Food Policy Councils began as a way to address the food system as a whole. These councils work across the many sectors of food to provide platforms for change. Please read the information below to better understand why we worked hard to craft and promote this legislation.<\/p>\n\n
\no\u00a0\u00a0Our farms are diminishing: Washington State loses 70,000 acres of farmland every year, an area larger than Lake Washington;
\no\u00a0\u00a0Our farmers are retiring: the average age of our farmer is 57;\u00a0
\no\u00a0\u00a0Our food security needs improving: Washington has 288,000 food insecure households and is ranked 28th in the nation for very low food security with 112,000 households experiencing hunger, a 24% increase from 2008;
\no\u00a0\u00a0Our citizens are unhealthy: Sixty-one percent of Washington adults are either obese or overweight. Many of Washington\u2019s residents lack access to nutritious affordable food which contributes to high rates of obesity.
\no\u00a0\u00a0Our government is forced to subsidize this unhealthy behavior: Washington spends approximately $2 billion dollars annually on obesity-related, preventable illnesses and premature deaths;\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n\u00a0
\nWhat would a Washington Food Policy Council look like?<\/strong>\u00a0 Senate Bill 6343 identifies representatives from 17 different sectors of our food system to work together to advance the following six food system goals:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
\nExecutive Director
\nWashington Sustainable Food\u00a0 &\u00a0 Farming Network
\nPO Box 762, Mount Vernon WA. 98273-0762
\nPhone: (360) 336-9694\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fax: (360) 336-1579
\negray@wsffn.org<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.wsffn.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"