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The Florida Food Policy Council (FLFPC) is a grassroots, volunteer-run nonprofit working toward a fair, healthy, and sustainable food system for all Floridians. We are a registered 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the State of Florida, with more than 150 members representing every sector of the food system—academia, agriculture, health, hospitality, nonprofits, and public agencies alike.
Our story began on April 3, 2016, when members from across Florida gathered in Fort Myers for the Council’s inaugural general meeting, held alongside the UF/IFAS Regional Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference. Over the following year, regional meetings across the state drew a wide circle of participation—from farmers and chefs to public-health advocates, local
officials, and community organizers.
By the end of that first year, more than 100 members had joined, supported by allies at the florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Health, EPA, florida Blue, UF/IFAS, and Florida Organic Growers. Members helped shape the Council’s foundation through a participatory committee structure—Organizational, Policy.
Communications, and Executive—ensuring decisions reflected Florida’s diversity of experience. Early meetings generated living policy recommendations that remain central to our work today.
In 2017, feedback from regional sessions informed the Council’s first strategic plan, and the board’s November meeting in Orlando ratified its initial action steps. Over the years that followed, the Council evolved through hurricanes, economic shifts, and a pandemic—growing from a loose network of volunteers into a connector across the intertwined issues of food, land, health, energy, and justice. We traveled the state, hosted listening sessions and community town halls, and built relationships and partnerships that laid the groundwork for today’s
statewide food policy ecosystem.
Leadership Evolution: From Rebuilding to Reimagining
When Erica “Erahyah” Hall became Chair in 2021, the Council was navigating both internal transformation and external upheaval. The pandemic had magnified inequities in food access, and Florida’s communities were facing growing climate and housing crises. Under her leadership, the Council entered a period of intentional reflection—restructuring its mission, governance, and partnerships to center racial equity, food sovereignty, and climate resilience.
Erica’s leadership brought both stability and innovation. Drawing from her 20-year background in law, community development, and environmental justice, she strengthened the Council’s role as a statewide convener—bridging policy work with grassroots organizing, and integrating FLFPC into national networks such as the Right to Food Community of Practice, Green Leadership Trust, and the Just Energy Academy.
Through a renewed focus on cross-sector collaboration, FLFPC expanded its programs to include the Grassroots Introduction to Food Policy course, Food as Medicine initiatives, and GIS mapping of food inequities. She also championed new partnerships with universities, land trusts, and advocacy networks to align Florida’s food policy work with broader movements for climate and racial justice.
Under her guidance, the Council’s internal culture evolved as well—embracing shared leadership, member capacity-building, and a “network model” that values listening, reflection, and community co-creation as essential tools for policy change.
Today, FLFPC stands as both convener and catalyst, bridging community wisdom with policy, data, and research. Erica’s tenure represents a shift from traditional food policy advocacy toward an ecosystem-based approach—one that unites food, land, energy, and justice to build a more equitable Florida for generations to come.
