Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has signed into state law a bill that creates “a state-endorsed 13-member council, which will work across diverse sectors, to develop food system recommendations that state and local governments, businesses, agriculture and consumers can use to improve healthy food access in Colorado.”
According to Maren C. Stewart, president/CEO of LiveWell Colorado, a nonprofit organization that helped sponsor the legislation, “There isn’t one single place or single group that addresses the complexities of food systems and their impact on health. For the first time in Colorado, the Food Systems Advisory Council will convene stakeholders from the multiple sectors that impact food systems to recommend policies and programs that will increase access to healthy foods.”
LiveWell Colorado already has made a series of recommendations that will be considered by the council, including “providing incentives to support the economic development of healthy food retailers, including full-service grocers, mobile vendors, corner stores, and farmers’ markets and stands.”
According to Maren C. Stewart, president/CEO of LiveWell Colorado, a nonprofit organization that helped sponsor the legislation, “There isn’t one single place or single group that addresses the complexities of food systems and their impact on health. For the first time in Colorado, the Food Systems Advisory Council will convene stakeholders from the multiple sectors that impact food systems to recommend policies and programs that will increase access to healthy foods.”
LiveWell Colorado already has made a series of recommendations that will be considered by the council, including “providing incentives to support the economic development of healthy food retailers, including full-service grocers, mobile vendors, corner stores, and farmers’ markets and stands.”
- KC's View:
-
One of the consistent criticisms made here on MNB of various anti-obesity initiatives is that they seem to be created in a vacuum, like throwing pasta against the wall to see what sticks.
The Colorado move seems like a concerted effort to take a comprehensive look at the problem and create solutions that work with each other, and that work for the consumer.
Which seems at least sensible.
