Pillar #1: Strengthening on collective impact
Our Policy Priorities
We strive to provide food system stakeholders throughout the Adirondacks with opportunities to learn about policy, funding, and regional opportunities for impact. By building capacity, awareness, action on local, state, and federal issue and policy developments, we can drive systemic change. Importantly, through a wider understanding of system-wide issues, AFSN can speak with one, stronger voice for the North Country.
Increasing food and nutrition Security
As Adirondack communities are witnessing the decreasing number of options for healthy and local food options, AFSN recognizes this as an important opportunity for collective action. Understanding and advocating for food as medicine, healthy meals, and SNAP programs will improve the frontline work of many social service agencies.
Food pantries, backpack programs, and other emergency feeding programs are the vanguard for food access across the region. While doing a lot without enough, AFSN works to advocate for increasing funding streams through State and federal programs, such as HPNAP (Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program) and Nourish New York.
Supporting emergency feeding opertations
Advocating for farm-centered markets and climate safety
As producers in the region face a plethora of challenges from labor shortages to climate change, AFSN recognizes the necessity to support local opportunities for markets to help strengthen local food economies and keep food as close to the source as possible, including farm to institution procurement.
The Adirondack voice has often been overlooked and absent from New York State efforts to support consumers and producers in rural spaces. AFSN works to change this and advocate for the Adirondack food system, its communities, and producers while seeking ways to support organizations to bring in more funding.