Urban Food Policy Council

News

2021 Urban Food Policy Council (UFPC) Food Summit: Creating Food Access

The Urban Food Policy Council held a two-day summit on creating food access April 9 and 10, via zoom. Topics included the Liberty St. Market, Policy & Ordinances, Urban Farming & Agripreneurship, and Community Gardening & Agripreneurship. Please see the compilation of questions and answers:   Urban Food Policy Food Summit Questions and Answers.

Food Resource Application
The City of Winston-Salem’s Think Orange initiative has coalesced information on grocery stores, food pantries, feeding sites, farms and farmers markets to assist in finding food resources near you. Toggle through different functions of the Forsyth County Food Resource application to find stores offering senior shopping hours, who accepts SNAP/EBT, and what free/discounted services are provided throughout the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County community. An alternative Spanish version of the application is also available: Recursos Alimentarios en Condado de Forsyth 

2020 Urban Food Policy Council Annual Report

Meetings

• 6 p.m.
• 2nd Thursday of each month
• Virtual

Members

Method of Appointment

The council shall be composed of 9 members of the public. Members shall have an interest in the food system, including food production, distribution, marketing, processing, consumption, access, disposal, etc. Members shall be residents of the City of Winston-Salem but cannot be employees of the City of Winston-Salem. Members shall be recommended by the Mayor and approved by the City Council.

Number of Members

Nine

Terms of Office

Three members shall be appointed for a three-year term. Three members shall be appointed for a two-year term. Three members shall be appointed for a one year term. All subsequent appointments shall be for three-year terms.

Chief Staff Person

Moriah Gendy

Food Resilience Program Manager

*Inaugural Chair; 

Authority for Creation

The authority for establishing the Urban Food Policy Council is Chapter 2, Section 2-63(a)(11) of the City Code, which was adopted by the City Council on April 17, 2017.

Purpose / Function

The purpose of the Urban Food Policy Council is to initiate and promote actions that increase food access in the city of Winston-Salem, with a particular emphasis on activities in the urban core.

Members of the Winston-Salem Urban Food Policy Council (Council) held their first meeting on Thursday, February 8, 2018. Their meetings are recurring and take place on the second Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the Public Works Conference Room in City Hall.

The Council is committed to identifying and developing new ways to educate the community about the importance of healthy, fair, and sustainable local food.

Since 2018, the Council has worked to develop the following recommendations:

• Infrastructure changes to the Fairgrounds Farmers Market
• Adoption of a Good Food Purchasing Program
• Establishing an Organic Protocol in a public park
• Breakfast in the Class to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board

In the future, members of the Urban Food Policy Council plan to recommend resolutions and initiatives that support urban agriculture and community gardens including a proposal to allocate funding for city programs that provide urban farmers and community gardeners with training and technical assistance.

Other issues of interest for the Urban Food Policy Council include putting forth recommendations for the Mayor and Members of City Council to support including the adoption of urban agriculture-friendly zoning policies and consolidating processes for citizens to acquire vacant lots for urban agriculture purposes. 

Food Policy Resources

View a list of Food Policy Resources including information on the North Carolina Local Food Council, Food Councils in the Triad, ways to connect through the Food System Leadership Network, and Community Food Strategies Facebook Group. 

This PDF also includes reports like the Forsyth Food System Assessment, Forsyth Farmland Preservation Plan, Winston-Salem Food Access and ncIMPACT’s "Creating a More Inclusive Economy for Forsyth County. 

There’s also a link the report from the Mayor’s Poverty Thought Force Initiative.