NYC’s ‘FoodWorks’ leverages food system for health, job creation and the environment

New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn today announced "FoodWorks New York," a new effort by the city council to produce a comprehensive plan to use the city’s food system to create jobs, improve public health and protect the environment. Over the next six months, the city council will work with experts from government, industry, labor and academia, as well as hunger and environmental advocates and community leaders to examine every step in the city’s food cycle. In a speech, Speaker Quinn outlined five outcomes for the plan:

1. Improve the city’s food infrastructure
2. Create new and better jobs in the food industry
3. Keep more local food dollars in the local economy
4. Reduce diet-related diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes
5. Reduce environmental damage from the production, transport and consumption of food

As part of developing the plan, the council will require city agencies to report back on food-related measures. The data will be used to set goals and better coordinate efforts across city government.