Good Food Purchasing Program

The Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) transforms the way public institutions use their food purchasing power to strengthen local and regional food systems in the five core value areas of: local economies, health, valued workforce, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. Central to these values, GFPP seeks to advance racial equity and transparency practices into the food system.

GFPP has a two-pronged goal: improving the practices of large vendors, while ensuring small and historically marginalized vendors - such as BIPOC farmers and food producers - have clear pathways and more opportunities to contract with our public agencies.

NYC Good Food Purchasing Program

Since 2018, CFA has been advocating for NYC to adopt and implement the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP), in partnership with The Food Chain Workers Alliance, the City University of New York (CUNY) Urban Food Policy Institute, the Center for Good Food Purchasing, and local affiliated organizations.

The purchasing power of NYC agencies is the largest in the country, together spending half a billion dollars per year on approximately 230 million meals for NYC residents annually. When leveraged to support  the GFPP values, this can have a transformative impact on our local, regional, and national food systems.

NYC’s Food-Serving Agencies

  • Administration for Children's Services

  • Department for the Aging

  • Department of Correction

  • Department of Education

  • Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

  • Department of Homeless Services

  • Department of Parks and Recreation

  • Department of Youth and Community Development

  • Health + Hospitals

  • Human Resources Administration

Our coalition of advocates and experts works to ensure that GFPP is maximized in NYC

The NYC campaign includes three phases:

Adoption

As a result of our advocacy, seven of these 11 agencies have been implementing GFPP to date. The coalition continues to garner support for Program adoption and implementation by directly engaging allies, elected officials, and government agencies.

Research

During the research phase, we produced evidence for the anticipated impact of the City adopting a GFPP policy by all 11 City agencies that procure and serve food.

Implementation

Early in Mayor Adams’s tenure, he issued an Executive Order that signaled to agencies, the coalition, and the public that GFPP is central to the Mayor’s Food Policy Agenda. The coalition has been working closely with the City Council to codify and thereby ensure the City’s long-term commitment to GFPP, regardless of leadership. These efforts resulted in the introduction of legislation in the Council in August 2019.

The NYC Good Food Purchasing Program Coalition is made up of:

    • Community Food Advocates

    • CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute

    • Food Chain Workers Alliance

    • American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

    • Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

    • Bronx Health REACH

    • City Harvest

    • District Council 37 (DC37)

    • Earthjustice

    • Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

    • Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

    • Rural Migrant Ministry

    • Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)

    • The Common Market

    • United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)

    • Westside Campaign Against Hunger

    • World Animal Protection

NYS Good Food Purchasing Program

CFA leads the New York State Good Food Purchasing Program (NYS GFPP) Campaign, to expand the impact of values-based food procurement across New York State. We have built a coalition of organizations that represent and seek to transform the food system through the lens of the five GFPP values to improve institutional procurement in municipalities throughout New York.

Our coalition members are committed to advancing values-based food purchasing across the state. We understand this issue is complex and will work differently for every agency that chooses to participate. Conversations with government agencies and leaders to understand challenges and areas of opportunity are critical to making the Good Food NY Bill work for municipalities across New York State.

As a result of our advocacy, in 2021 the State Good Food NY Bill was introduced. If passed, this bill would amend the law that currently requires public agencies to select the lowest responsible bidder for their food procurement, and will allow agencies across the state to prioritize GFPP values-based criteria over lowest cost.

The NYS Good Food Purchasing Program Coalition is made up of:

    • Adirondack Food System Network

    • Alianza Agricola

    • Black Farmers United NYS

    • Casa Visco

    • Catskills Agrarian Alliance

    • Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship

    • Center for Science in the Public Interest

    • City Harvest

    • CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute

    • Earthjustice

    • Equity Advocates

    • Farm Sanctuary

    • Feast Kitchen, LLC

    • Feeding New York State

    • Food Chain Workers Alliance

    • Food for the Spirit

    • Good Food Buffalo Coalition

    • Gynwood

    • Headwater Food Hub

    • Health Care Without Harm 

    • Hudson Valley Food Hub

    • Hudson Valley Food Systems Coalition

    • Island Harvest Food Bank

    • Lenox Hill Neighborhood House

    • Massachusetts Avenue Project

    • Natural Resources Defense Council

    • Northeast NY Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health

    • Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York

    • NY Sustainable Agriculture Working Group

    • Rochester Food Policy Council

    • Syracuse Onondaga Food Systems Alliance

    • Teens for Food Justice

    • The Common Market

    • VOICE Buffalo

    • West Valley Farms and Camps

    • Worker Justice Center of New York

    • World Animal Protection