Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) has updated the Michigan Good Food Charter, a roadmap for creating and sustaining a good food system in the state that is rooted in local communities. The 2022 Good Food Charter revises the 2010 Charter.
The 2022 Charter establishes six goals, six strategies and 22 actions to support better food systems. The goal areas are: improving food sovereignty, farm and food business viability, health equity, fair wages and economic opportunity, sustainable ecosystems, and climate change mitigation and resilience. You can read the charter here.
Public Policy Associates (PPA) supported the two-year effort that included gathering guidance and feedback from 150 organizations and nearly 500 individuals. Specifically, PPA supported the Charter by identifying and developing metrics to measure progress towards a good food system. PPA developed indicators of change for each of the six goal areas with input from key organizations in the state and other food-system experts as well as a review of relevant reports, literature, and available data.
“The Good Food Charter spells out a vision for what a good food system looks like in Michigan and actions that people and organizations can take to move us forward on that vision. Accomplishing that vision will take an understanding of our food system now and then tracking how we are progressing,” said Dr. Nancy McCrohan, Director for Healthy Communities Policy at PPA. “CRFS and Charter steering committees have been smart to pay attention to shared measurement—how we will measure and track the collective impacts of actions taken by many people and organizations that are working to improve our food system. This shared measurement will help us understand what is going well and where our actions may need to shift or evolve to better meet our goals.”
The Charter will be used to: identify gaps in policies and initiatives; focus resources for maximum impact; and help vulnerable communities use their collective power to improve policies.
PPA has done extensive work in the food policy area for more than a decade under the leadership of Dr. Nancy McCrohan. For more information, contact Dr. McCrohan at nmccrohan@publicpolicy.com.