The Slow Food USA Blog

NYC Takes on Food Politics

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When it comes to food policy, Bloombergian New York City has already made a high profile name for itself—as the banner of transfats, as the litigious fighter for restaurants to list calories on the menu.  In short, it has been known of late as the food police, bringing an end to all fat-inducing joys.

Last Wednesday morning, in front of a crowd of several hundred urban farmers, hunger fighters, nutritionists, sustainable food advocates, policy wonks, urban planners, city governmental types, and concerned citizens Mayor Bloomberg admitted he has a weakness for vices of Cheez-its and Coffee; his presence at and support for NYC’s first “Food Politics” conference was notable not just for his personal food preference revelations, but also for the statement it made about where food fits into NYC’s plans going forward.  If Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has his way, food access, nutrition, and urban/rural food and farm partnerships will be the hallmark of NYC’s food policy, with transfat bans and sodium reduction plans just one piece of a more nuanced puzzle.

After additional opening statements by the President of the UN General Assembly, Miguel DiScoto, the Center for Social Inclusion’s Maya Wiley, and The New School’s Thomas Forster, the conference broke into 7 tracks. There were four of us SFUSA staff members there, and we each hit different sessions, trying to glean as much as we could.

For the complete program, including all 7 breakout sessions, please click here.

For more coverage of this event, check out CivilEats.com.