About

The Virginia Food System Council was born out of a statewide Food Security Summit held in Charlottesville, May 11, 2007, where the summit hosts, the University of Virginia’s Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation and Virginia Tech’s Department of Food Science & Technology together with local Virginia agricultural community participants determined that Virginians at all income levels need to have access to safe and nutrient rich food with an emphasis on access to local food by:

Promoting economical and environmental linkages between food producers and consumers.
Making sure a greater proportion of the revenue is received by the producer.
Conserving farmland and farm tradition.
With the help of Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture and our volunteer staff, the Virginia Food System Council held its inaugural official meeting with a Board of 24 Directors on March 18, 2009, representing all aspects of our food system from producers to consumers and began formally working to strengthen Virginia’s local and regional food systems.

With its mission clearly determined, the Virginia Food System council 501 (c) (3) was incorporated on October 14, 2009.

Four sub-committees were created to facilitate the Council’s work, and include Education, Policy, Pilot Projects and Research, which provided the framework for its strategic plan.