Opinion: A More Resilient Food System Starts at the Community Level

It’s time to look beyond the Farm Bill. 

The Farm Bill, passed once every five years, is the most important piece of federal legislation affecting American agriculture and food access. Originally designed to keep food prices fair for both supply and demand sides, ensure an adequate supply of food, and protect and sustain natural resources, this bill now plays a wildly outsized role in shaping our food system. Lobbyists and advocates influence it from all angles. 

But the Farm Bill is not the be-all and end-all of our food system. It’s easy to think that all changes to our system must start with the Farm Bill, or that the Farm Bill is the only way to have wide influence. It can be easy to overlook opportunities available for progress on the state level, where the smaller-scale forces at work are just as complex, and the stakes just as significant. This year, there will also be scores of state-level bills debated this year from Rhode Island to Texas – bills that will greatly affect farmers, fishers, food entrepreneurs, food access, and food justice all across America.  

One of the best ways to impact the food system for the better is to invest in food policy councils (FPCs) at the community, state, and regional level. 

Be it public, private, or non-profit work, there are frequently intrasector opportunities for collaboration and information sharing within trade groups, or professional associations, which can benefit everyone, without waiting for omnibus legislation like the Farm Bill. These networks hold regular meetings and events that offer opportunities for relationship-building, coalition development, and generate conversation that can lead to new thinking in the field. Yet few opportunities exist to engage in this important work across sectors, especially on the state level. 

In an age where organizations increasingly need to prove their impact, the benefits provided by networks are incredibly valuable.

FPCs bring together diverse stakeholders from different sectors–like food entrepreneurs, farmers, food justice workers, food access workers, and concerned consumers– to identify common ground and collaborate, to help solve problems holistically. 

These food system stakeholders share the goal of a more just and resilient food system. Their participation in these networks is based on their belief that investing time and energy in it will help achieve that goal.   

FPCs are a kind of ‘backbone network,’’ so named because they provide a central structure critical for efficient operation. While in the technology sector, these networks are recognized as critical to system efficacy and efficiency (and adequately funded in response); in the world of food systems change they are largely ignored (and lack adequate funding). The fact is, FPCs need to be cultivated intentionally and invested in more widely for substantive, measurable food system change to take place. 

There are numerous obstacles when building this type of cross-sector network. One of the biggest is that most leaders, no matter what sector they are in, are fully focused on the success of their individual agencies, departments, and organizations. How can they justify prioritizing the time and effort to be part of a network? To be effective, FPCs require members to devote the time to work together in good faith, sometimes with competitors, whether for market share, grant funding, or legislative attention. The emphasis on collaboration often results in compromise that can feel off-brand. On top of that, the cost of not participating can feel fuzzy and far-off to leaders who are laser focused on maintaining their immediate stability while trying to find time to plan strategically for the next year or three. 

The fact is, those leaders can’t afford not to work within FPCs.

The fact is, those leaders can’t afford not to work within FPCs. Even the best organizational leaders in the nonprofit sector have a limited ability to focus on systemic change. Without the structure and support network of an FPC, individual progress may be haphazard, and lack the structure and shared purpose that can produce efficient, intentional, and visionary systems change. 

Over 20 years ago, Margaret Wheatley, in her book Turning to One Another, saw the potential for significant change in the actions of a few individuals: ““[T]he world only changes when a few individuals step forward. It doesn’t change from leaders or top-level programs or big ambitious plans. It changes when we, everyday people gathering in small groups, notice what we care about and take those first steps to change the situation.” 

FPCs create the space for these individuals to band together to create and implement the solutions required for significant food system change to occur. 

Enter the ‘food systems leader. Skillful network leaders practicing in the food system space focus on advancing the entire system, with all of its moving, interconnected parts. They honor each individual’s and organization’s challenges and goals, while cultivating their ability to consistently see and value ‘the big picture’ at the same time. They facilitate connection, conversation, and relationship-building. They craft invitations and create spaces where organizational leaders can take a breath, share challenges and opportunities without judgment, listen to new ideas, and gain the vision they need to do their jobs better. This is the demanding work of participatory democracy, focused on the food system.  

FPCs create the space for these individuals to band together to create and implement the solutions required for significant food system change to occur. 

In an age where organizations increasingly need to prove their impact, the benefits provided by networks are incredibly valuable. Philanthropic decision makers and funders who care about any aspect of the food system – food access and nutrition security, food business and economic development, or the intersections of food, climate, and environment – should invest in backbone food networks and encourage all of their food-focused grantees to join them. This is a path to achieving significant food system change in the next several years, regardless of what happens with the Farm Bill.

Nessa Richman is the executive director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and an adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island College of the Environment and Life Sciences.

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