Chicago’s doing it; New York City’s doing it. Who’s next, and what’s “it?”
“It” is something called a “foodprint resolution,” and it represents an initiative to help cities acknowledge the connection between climate change and food production and distribution; and make a commitment to reduce their impact and increase their citizens’ access to healthier, greener foods. On Tuesday, in Chicago, the City Council’s Committee on Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities voted unanimously to pass the resolution. On June 30, New York City Council Member Bill de Blasio introduced a similar resolution calling for a citywide “FoodprintNYC” initiative to reduce the city’s climate foodprint and create greater access to local, fresh, healthy plant-based food, especially in low-income communities, as well as city-run institutions. So far, 11 City Council members have signed on as co-sponsors.
The resolution is being introduced as a kind of coda to NYC’s carbon footprint reduction commitment (PlaNYC). As blogger Kerry Trueman explains on the HuffPost,
“a lot of us–including our very own mayor–are only just starting to understand that our food choices affect the environment’s health as much as our own. Mayor Bloomberg has famously (and courageously) launched numerous campaigns to fight various public health nuisances: trans fats; smoking; calorie listings; sodium; yada, yada…
And yet, for a man who seems pretty adept at crunching numbers, Mayor Bloomberg hasn’t put two and two together when it comes to food and climate: PlaNYC doesn’t take into account the ways we produce, distribute and discard food, even though they collectively create more greenhouse gases than transportation.
NYC’s carbon foodprint must be considered, too, when we examine how to conserve resources, improve our aging infrastructure, and create a more sustainable city.”
Local organizations are hopeful that this initiative has traction and can be a model for all cities across the country.
Take Action:
- if you are a NYC resident, take just a couple of minutes to tell your city council representative that you’d like him or her to help lead the charge on climate change and food justice by signing on to the “FoodprintNYC” initiative
- Consider introducing a foodprint resolution in your own city!
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