Supervisor Janice Hahn wants to make Los Angeles County the largest county in the nation to adopt the Good Food Purchasing Policy. This would lend the County’s enormous purchasing power to support a local, sustainable, healthy, and humane food system. The Board of Supervisors voted Aug 7, to support a plan authored by Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. It aims to examine the feasibility of implementing a Good Food Purchasing Policy for all County departments and implementing a pilot program with at least one County department.
Supervisor Hahn said this is about using food as a tool to invest in good local jobs, environmental sustainability, and the health of our children.
The Policy is a commitment by a food serving institution to improve the regional food system by implementing meaningful purchasing standards in five “key value” categories: local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, animal welfare, and nutrition.
LA County purchases 37 million snacks and meals a year for youth lunch programs, senior meal services, food at LA County jails, and for staff cafeterias. By implementing this Policy, LA County could influence the local food system as a whole by supporting food sources that are healthy, locally grown, and sustainable.