Each year, ten New York City agencies serve an estimated 260 million meals, making the City one of the largest meal providers
in the world.
With the rising prevalence of diet related disease and mounting evidence of the crucial role of nutrition in determining health, interest has escalated in what urban planner Kevin Morgan has called "the public plate" as a lever for improvement of public health.
Others have noted that the sourcing of food for the public plate can support local and regional agriculture and food producers and provide stable employment for the growing population of under and unemployed New Yorkers. At the same time, environmentalists
have raised concerns about the handling of waste from municipal agencies in general and from meals in particular, and about the carbon footprint and other environmental implications of urban food procurement practices. And institutional meals are an important
defense against hunger, a problem that continues to disrupt the lives and health of too many New Yorkers. Thus institutional food is at the intersection of health, economic development, environmental
protection, and social justice.
Panelists will include representatives from city government, academia, and non-profit organizations who interact
with the institutional food system in NYC.
Moderated by Janet Poppendieck, PhD, Co-Director,
NYC Food Policy Center at Hunter College
