Mayor Bowser Proposes Eliminating DC Food Policy Council

Written By Max Broad

In the Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposal, Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed not only defunding the DC Food Policy Council, she also proposed legislation to permanently remove the city’s Office of Food Policy.

This would undo the District’s progress on better food purchasing, jeopardize people in need at a time when federal food support is being stripped back, and undermine an office that lifts up the restaurants and food-businesses that are under immense strain.

Fortunately, it can be stopped.

While the Mayor proposes the budget, DC Council ultimately finalizes the budget. Advocates are rallying to save the Office of Food Policy. Here is how you can help.

Sign up to testify

Speak up at one of these budget hearings—you can testify in-person, virtually, via written statement, or even via voicemail. Anyone can testify, even if you are not a DC resident.

Emphasize the need to retain the Food Policy Council

As you draft your testimony, use these talking points to build the case that Council reject the proposal to eliminate the Office of Food Policy.

Briefly introduce yourself and your organization/business.

  • Name where you live, your ward, and any reason why you care about DC food issues.

Identify the agency you are testifying about (some hearings cover multiple agencies) and your key asks for the committee: 

  • Oppose the Mayor’s proposal to eliminate the Food Policy Council and staff at Office of Planning via the Food Policy Functions Amendment Act. If the Food Policy Council and staff cannot stay at the Office of Planning, they should be moved to another agency, such as [Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Department of Health, or Department of Energy and Environment].

  • Pass and fund the Food Policy Council Procurement Amendment Act of 2025*, budgeting at least $100,000 in FY27.

Identify the agency you are testifying about (some hearings cover multiple agencies) and your key asks for the committee: 

  • Recruiting outside funding: FPC brought in more than $200 million in Federal and philanthropic dollars to support the District food system, including approximately $80 million a year for SUN Bucks, $50 million during COVID for direct food access and then for Nourish DC and Food Access Fund programs, and $2.4 million in Resilient Food System Infrastructure grants;

  • Policy acumen: Informed several key pieces of legislation, including the Farmers Market Amendment Act (2025), the No Senior Hungry Omnibus Amendment Act (2023), the Green Food Purchasing Amendment Act (2021), the Cottage Food Expansion Act (2020), the Save Good Food Act (2019), and the Healthy Students Amendment Act (2018). Issued critical reports with data across agencies that would otherwise be siloed or not as accessible, including annual reports on food access and the food economy, analyses on specific population hunger – including Seniors, LGBTQ+ residents, college students, and more.

  • Emergency Resilience: Created critical collaboration channels during emergencies, including supporting emergency food providers and farmers markets during COVID-19, promoting resources for impacted residents during federal government shutdowns, and supporting food system response during natural disasters like the 2026 Snowcrete storm;

Submit your testimony

If you are testifying live, aim to submit your testimony 24 hours ahead of your hearing so that the Councilmembers have a copy of your statement—they often like to use it to follow along as you share your thoughts.

  • Duration: For oral testimony, you will have 3 minutes to speak. Your written testimony can be as long as you like and include more information than you read aloud in your allotted time. After you testify, Councilmembers may ask follow-up questions about your testimony. If you don’t know the answer to a question, you can always say, “I’ll get back to you.”

  • Timing: You will not be assigned a specific time to testify but rather you will be expected to be present when your name is called. You may estimate when this will be based on the witness list that is shared the day before the hearing. The hearing will be publicly visible.

10 Years of the Food Policy Council—And an Effort to Stop It

In 2014, DC Council passed the Food Policy Council and Director Establishment Act of 2014 to establish a Food Policy Council to identify regulatory burdens on the local food economy, collect and analyze data on the food economy and food equity, promote positive food policies, and guide organizations and individuals involved in the food economy. The Act also established a Food Policy Director in the Office of Planning to oversee the Food Policy Council, promote food policy in the District, attract new participants to the local food economy, assist individuals already participating in the local food economy, and achieve the food goals identified in the Sustainable DC plan. Many jurisdictions across the country have a similar office, which are often housed in Departments of Health. See more about their accomplishments in this blog: Celebrating a decade of work to advance a more equitable and resilient food system in the District

What is the Proposal to Eliminate the Food Policy Council?

The Food Policy Functions Amendment Act of 2026 repeals the Food Policy Council and Director Establishment Act of 2014 entirely. This will eliminate both the team at the Office of Planning and the Food Policy Council and will remove all of the requirements for the District government to report on food access and the food economy.

What other ways can I give input on this bill?

You can always email your Councilmember about your feedback on any legislation. Find contact details for all Councilmembers here.

The Food Policy Council’s role in DC

Since 2015, the Food Policy Council, the Food Policy Director, and eventually a small team of Food Policy Analysts, Fellows, and collaborators have followed the guidance of that Act.

  • The FPC is a critical bridge between government and community. Over the past decade, the FPC and OFP have engaged more than 10,000 residents and woven food into major District efforts—from Sustainable DC 2.0 to neighborhood and comprehensive planning processes.

• A central food policy team is essential in moments of crisis. During COVID-19, OFP coordinated daily with emergency response agencies and community partners to help feed thousands of residents. The relationships and systems built through the FPC helped sustain food access even after emergency funding ended.

• The FPC and OFP support local food businesses and entrepreneurs. OFP helped stand up the Nourish DC Collaborative, providing loans, technical assistance, and grants to local food businesses, and played a key role in directing more than $50 million in emergency food dollars to local providers during the pandemic.

• Coordination is more important than ever. With federal SNAP changes underway and food insecurity still affecting many DC residents, OFP and the FPC provide essential in-house expertise on food systems, procurement, and program alignment.

Food Policy Council Accomplishments

• Identified regulatory burdens on the local food economy; collect and analyze data on the food economy; and assist individuals already participating in the local food economy. The Food Policy Council and the Food Policy Director and team have:

o Hosted listening sessions with DC food entrepreneurs and peer jurisdictions about cottage food across the country, analyzed potential structures for cottage food legislation, and released information for residents and entrepreneurs about the Cottage Food Act and all its amendments

o Published the Make Food Work report in 2020 by convening more than a dozen workforce development providers and analyzing the needs in workforce development; updated the workforce development providers list in 2025

o Partnered with grocery stores and farmers markets to ensure all stores understood COVID regulations and created COVID safety guidance for farmers markets to continue operating and providing essential outdoor space for businesses during the pandemic

o Facilitated kitchen matchmaking activities in 2019, 2022, and 2025, to connect small food businesses with kitchen spaces in the District, culminating in the 2026 Ward 7 shared kitchen grant to support businesses struggling to find space East of the Anacostia River.

o Conducted 4 listening sessions with farmers market vendors and operators across the city and specifically in Wards 7 and 8; compiled their challenges along with policy recommendations to heavily inform the Farmers Market Support Amendment (FMSA) Act; and then, when the FMSA Act passed, ensured aspiring market operators knew about the opportunity

• Collected and analyzed data on food access. The Food Policy Council and the Food Policy Director and team have:

o Released an annual report on food access including grocery locations, healthy corner stores, and farmers markets, as well as hunger data

o Conducted detailed analyses for specific food insecure populations including Seniors, Asset-Limited and Income Constrained and Employed (ALICE) population, LGBTQ+ residents, college students, and migrants, with specific recommendations for government and nonprofit stakeholders

o Convened working groups that led to the No Senior Hungry Omnibus Amendment Act of 2022, passed in 2023

o Researched school meals legislation in peer jurisdictions and published a memo on the potential impact of universal school meals that informed the Universal Free School Meals Acts introduced in both 2023 and 2025

• Promote positive food policies: The Food Policy Council and the Food Policy Director and team have:

o Released objective policy analysis for more than 40 pieces of legislation introduced by DC Council or the Mayor, including information about how residents can express any opinions on the bills

o Conducted data and policy analysis around procurement solutions for food served in the District, including several studies on Central Food Processing Facilities & and a cost-benefit analysis

o Conducted comparative policy analysis of peer jurisdictions to encourage best practices in the District ranging from affordable housing & urban agriculture to zoning, and supporting food businesses through direct funding.

o Proposed budget enhancements and developed key programs to serve the District, including Nourish DC in partnership with DMPED, the Food Waste Innovation Grants in partnership with DSLBD, and SUN Bucks in partnership with DHS.

  • In addition, the very structure of a Food Policy Council to bring together public, private, and community partners has enabled the following groups and responses:

• Hosted more than 60 full Food Policy Council meetings, with an average of 80 residents at each meeting

• Convened dozens of emergency serving food organizations during COVID-19 to ensure food needs of impacted populations were met and that existing resources were promoted

• Collected all governmental and nongovernmental resources for residents during several federal government shutdowns, as well as serving as the site where DHS directed all SNAP recipients during the 2025 government shutdown

• Convened the interagency SUN Bucks Working Group and facilitated data sharing, legal agreements, and division of responsibilities between DHS, OSSE, DC Health and the Lab. This work allowed the District to take advantage of $80 million Federal dollars for Summer EBT for District families to access food while schools are out of session.

• Brought together DOEE, DMPED, and OP to ensure the District could take advantage of the Resilient Food System Infrastructure grants which brought a total of $2.4 million to District food system businesses.

  • The Food Policy Council has also followed its bylaws to build a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable food system by:

• Ensuring that community member voices are heard in policy development by engaging more than 10,000 residents over the last ten years in food-focused conversations and integrating food into other key plans (e.g. Sustainable DC 2.0, Ready to Play, Climate Ready DC, a dozen neighborhood plans, and the District comprehensive plans and plan updates)

• Ensuring more than $50 million of emergency response dollars went to local food businesses for emergency food assistance during COVID-19

• Holding regular trainings on the intersection between racial equity and food justice

• Conducting more than 50 trainings across the Wards on existing District programs and resources, in addition to creating and distributing thousands of digital and paper documents outlining District food programs.

*Learn more about the Food Policy Council Procurement Amendment Act of 2025 and why it is important for DC on page 3 of this talking point document.

Max Broad
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