New York’s food purchasing laws haven’t been updated since the 1970s, while municipalities spend millions of tax dollars purchasing food. The state’s food purchasing laws prohibit public institutions–such as schools, senior centers, correctional facilities, and hospitals–from buying anything but the cheapest option. Public money should reflect public values. That’s why we need the Good Food NY Bill to remove current barriers and make New York the first state to implement a comprehensive, values-based approach to public food purchasing—one that allows our public institutions to prioritize:

• Racial equity

• Environmental sustainability

• Worker wellbeing

• Nutrition

• Animal welfare

• Advancing local economies, and

• Transparency in New York’s food system

Millions of meals are served to the public every year but the current approach to purchasing food is shortsighted and saddles taxpayers with hidden long-term costs. When we purchase the cheapest food from big corporations, we’re fueling practices that pollute our air and water and contribute to environmental disasters. We’re supporting companies that exploit and underpay workers, who must then turn to public programs to help make ends meet. We also bypass opportunities to more meaningfully support small vendors in our region.

It’s time to get to the root of these issues.

We have an opportunity to give local governments throughout New York the ability to make decisions that are best for our communities, workers, animals, and the planet. Communities across the state are mobilizing around this bill—including over 80 labor and food organizations—to get their local institutions in full support of this movement. Hear from them directly in their recent press conference.