The Boston City Council approved an ordinance to adopt Good Food Purchasing Program standards in the city. The ordinance requires the City’s food spending, such as within Boston Public Schools, to promote locally sourced suppliers, better nutrition, fair labor policy, ethical treatment of animals and environmental protection.
The initiative, which was sponsored by City Councilor At-Large Michelle Wu, passed last Wednesday making Boston the first city in the Northeast to adopt these standards, according to a press release from Wu’s team.
Wu said in the release the ordinance would allow the City of Boston to become a city- and state-wide leader in the food industry by actively promoting positive change while also benefiting Boston’s students, as the Boston Public School system is one of the city’s largest daily food providers.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to ensure the food we’re serving to students is healthy and locally sourced, and reflects equity and justice along the entire food supply chain,” Wu said. “I’m proud to see the City Council demonstrate national leadership in taking this next step towards aligning the food purchasing power of Boston with our values.”
Suzanne Adely, the Mid-Atlantic and New England regional organizer for Food Chain Workers Alliance — which she said has supported GFPP since its inception in Los Angeles — said the standards would help support local economies.
“What GFPP, in any city or state, would be able to do in particular is to be able to direct a lot of this market to local economies and direct it towards vendors and suppliers who are not violating labor standards,” Adely said, “and in fact, have a good record when it comes to their workforce.”
Adely said she hoped GFPP pushes Boston’s food suppliers to adopt more ethical and mindful practices, as they would want to increase the chances the City chooses to do business with them.
“We could build a market in which vendors and suppliers, in order to get public contracts, [need to] show that they’re meeting basic nutrition standards,” Adely said, “… or that their supply chain is adopting practices that don’t harm the environment, or that they are adhering to labor laws or at least not violating labor laws.”
As for the people of Boston, Adely said the GFPP would benefit residents by providing higher quality food to students while also promoting local farms and businesses.
“Boston residents who receive food from a City agency will certainly benefit in the increase of nutrition standards in their food,” Adely said. “But we also think that such a program can benefit Boston and the metro area as a whole, because … it could really redirect a lot of this market, supporting medium to small farmers.”
Elizabeth Magner, an animal advocacy specialist at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – Angell Animal Medical Center, wrote in an email the GFPP would allow Boston to better align itself with the will of its residents, as the people of Massachusetts voted to outlaw farming practices that kept animals in extreme confinement.
“The GFPP will help to ensure that Boston is in compliance with this new law,” Magner wrote, “and reflects the will of the citizenry that their animal food products are humanely-sourced.”
Ryan Hannon, 23, of Somerville, said he thought the GFPP was a “really great policy” and was worth any additional expenses incurred.
“Because Boston is this leader in a liberal progressive spot and we are this green space, I think this would do a lot of good for our community and our school students that study here in Boston,” Hannon said. “I think at face value there’s a lot of pros, and I can’t imagine anyone who would be opposed to this bill.”
Mission Hill resident Lucas Devine, 21, said he supports the new standards and thinks they would establish Boston Public Schools as a leader in labor and animal welfare.
“This is a good idea because the schools want to get a good example that people and the animals should be treated well,” Devine said. “There might be other things that might be more important, but it’s nice to start small.”
Rina Ofman, 27 of Brighton, said she thought Boston should focus more on ensuring workers are treated fairly and less on issues related to animal welfare.
“I think fare wages for workers is really important, but I don’t that organic or farm-raised is as important as making sure the kids have enough food,” Ofman said. “I think treating the workers right should be a priority, but I don’t think that animals are as important as people, although animals are very important.”
