Policy.  You might think ‘boring!’ when you hear that word.  You might be more interested in action when it comes to food related initiatives, but, policy can be very interesting, and fun! Trust us!

So, what exactly is policy?  According to the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN, a policy is a principle or statement of intent that is meant to guide decisions and achieve specific outcomes. You can think about a policy as a hypothesis (“what we hope will happen”) and a set of steps (“how to get there”).

Public policies are those related to governments.  But there are a lot of different kinds of policy too!  Policies can be adopted by governments, companies, NGOs and even individuals. Policies can also operate at different levels: the global, national, regional, local and organizational levels.

Food policy impacts on how food is produced (and what is produced), processed, distributed, purchased, consumed, protected and disposed of.  This means that we do indeed “eat and drink food policy”.

Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food system. Food policies govern a number of areas, including:

• Food-related industries
• Agricultural and livestock extension
• Food assistance
• Food safety
• Food labelling
• Certification standards
• Development assistance/food aid
• Trade

Not only does the COFPC work on policy issues, we also are involved in food action projects, which also help influence policy!

Here are our recent policy recommendations. We work at the local, provincial, and national level!