Southcoast Food Policy Council Working Groups/Initiatives

The SFPC Community Advisory Board completed a community-driven strategic planning process that will define the Council’s work in the years to come. Using the recently completed 2021 Southcoast Food System Assessment as a guide, CAB members identified their top five most relevant issues from their area of expertise. Over the course of several meetings facilitated by Tom Flanagan from the Institute for 21^st Century Agoras, we used a dialogical approach to discuss and clarify all 155 issues among the CAB members. Each person’s ideas and priorities were respectfully heard, discussed, and refined. After hearing everyone’s clarifications, priorities were further synthesized and voted upon for a second time. The votes were tallied, and 26 priorities were elevated and reassembled into four Working Groups: Education and Communication, Policy, Food Access Programs, and Capacity Building.

Several overarching themes were prominent and infused within each Working Group’s priorities. These included equity and inclusion in the decision-making processes, ensuring Food Equity Advisors (community members impacted by food insecurity) are centered in the decision-making, utilizing systems thinking approach to project management, and ensuring climate change mitigation strategies are incorporated into the Working Group plans. Meeting monthly, the Working Groups will create short and long-term goals to reach their outcomes.