Onondaga County lawmakers are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a piece of legislation called Good Food NY, which would give greater leeway to organizations like schools and hospitals to buy locally sourced food.
Legislator Dave Knapp, who represents a big apple producing part of Onondaga County, said it doesn’t make sense for school kids in Syracuse and Onondaga County to be munching on apples trucked in from 3,000 miles away.
"Our school kids are eating apples from Washington State because they were the low bidder with some national supplier. You know, when we've got the best apples grown in the world all around us," said Knapp.
Knapp says the Good Food NY bill makes sense.
"This will give the purchasing folks some flexibility," he said. "It doesn't mandate anything, but it gives them the ability to look local and take advantage of everything we have right here. And nothing's better for you or better tasting than something that's trucked a few miles down the road and grown as opposed to something from across the country or from another country."
Under current law, public institutions are required to buy the cheapest foods available, which often puts local producers at a disadvantage because large national chains can charge less. The Good Food NY legislation replaces that with a values based procurement, letting institutions pay, at most, 10% more, if the purchase meets certain requirements.
"Allowing municipalities to make considerations for things like transportation costs, sustainable and humane farm practices, and keeping dollars in the local community help to strengthen our food system by allowing local and smaller farms to take part in the food procurement process," said Legislator Ellen Block.
This legislation is part of a larger food safety package that also includes greater label disclosure of food chemicals, standardized food date labels, and sodium warnings on chain restaurant menus.
