Maryland Food System Resiliency Council

Purpose & Background

House Bill 831/Senate Bill 723 established the Maryland Food System Resiliency Council. This multiagency, collaborative effort engages experts in food resiliency across Maryland in an effort to enhance efforts to address food insecurity issues across the state.

The Maryland Food System Resiliency Council is a formally appointed body which meets regularly to address issues of food resilience. These meetings are open to the public and all meeting announcements, along with instructions for accessing the meetings virtually, are below. Inquiries about the workgroup should be directed to jesse.delph@maryland.gov.

Background of the Issue

Food security means all individuals, at all times, have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet dietary needs for normal growth and a productive and healthy life. In order for a household to be considered food secure, food must be available, accessible, and each individual in the household must be able to reliably utilize the food they obtain. Food insecurity is a global, national, and local issue. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 35.2 million individuals lived in food-insecure households and, of these, households with children had a substantially higher rate of food insecurity than those without. Food insecurity is a socially-rooted and systemic issue and has only increased in prevalence since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting approximately 23% of U.S. households in 2020.

Food insecurity is a complex issue with no single cause, but crises, shocks, and stressors- both natural and human-made- have the potential to exacerbate insecurity and cause considerable short- and long-term damage to our global, national, and local food systems. A resilient food system is able to withstand and recover from disruptions to the supply chain in a way that empowers communities and ensures sufficient and sustainable supply of acceptable and accessible food for all.

Goals

The goals of the Council are to:

Address the food insecurity crisis in the State resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis.
Develop equity and sustainability policy recommendations to increase the long-term resiliency of the food system.
Expand the impact of existing food council organizations.
Develop a strategic plan to increase the production and procurement of Maryland certified food.

Outcomes

The Council will produce the following documents which will lay the foundation for the future of food resilience in Maryland.

November 1, 2021 -

Report to the Maryland General Assembly on key findings and activities undertaken by the Council.

November 1, 2022 -

Report to the Maryland General Assembly with recommendations for a long term structure for a statewide food policy council including:

November 1, 2023 and beyond -

Report to the Maryland General Assembly on key findings and activities undertaken by the Council.

Additional reports annually to the Maryland General Assembly should the Council remain operational.

Membership

The Council is co-chaired by the Executive Director of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency Russ Strickland and Heather Bruskin, Montgomery Council Food Council, who was elected at the first meeting of the Food System Resiliency Council for a term of one year as required by legislation.

In addition to the co-chairs, the council has three co-vice chairs:

The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture
The Secretary of the Department of Human Services
Dean of the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Members of the Council serve a three-year term. Representing organizations across the spectrum of food resilience, the members of the Council collaborate to achieve the goals and outcomes prescribed by law.

A full list of members will be available soon.

Upcoming Meetings

Title: Maryland Food System Resiliency Council Meeting

Date issued: 08/06/2021

Date of Meeting: Monday, October 25th, 2021

Time of Meeting: 12:00 p.m to 2:00 p.m.

Location of Meeting: Virtual- You can find a public viewing link here closer to the date of the meeting.

Attachments:

Maryland Food System Resiliency Meeting Notice

PLEASE RSVP ATTENDANCE TO THIS MEETING at Jesse.delph@maryland.gov

The Work Group, at the discretion of the co-chairs, may move the meeting into a closed session if the discussion warrants it pursuant to Md. Code, General Provisions Article 3-305.