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City Council codifies Office of Food Justice into city law
Summary
The council voted to codify the Office of Food Justice into city ordinance, establishing the office’s mission, director appointment, and duties to coordinate food access initiatives across city departments.
The Boston City Council on April 9 adopted an ordinance to codify the Office of Food Justice, formally establishing the office in city law and defining its purpose and duties.
Councilor Gabriela Colette Zapata, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, presented the ordinance and described amendments adopted in a working session that clarified the office’s purpose and duties. "The purpose of this ordinance is to formally create the Office of Food Justice, which will work to build an equitable, resilient, sustainable, and just food system," Zapata said as she summarized the amended language.
The ordinance as amended sets the office’s mission to improve accessibility and affordability of nutritious, fresh food for all Boston residents and instructs the mayor to appoint a director to oversee the office. The measure inserts duties including implementing programs related to food access, conducting research and monitoring laws and policies that affect food security, advising the mayor on policy development, and performing community outreach. The council removed or revised earlier draft language that would have delegated direct administration of food service programs to the director, and instead clarified a coordinating role across city departments.
Eliza Wasserman, identified during committee testimony as director of the Office of Food Justice, provided edits to align the ordinance with the office’s mission and emphasized the office’s coordinating function across departments such as Age Strong and Boston Public Schools. The ordinance also adds sustainability language and underscores cultural relevance in food access.
Councilors voiced support at the meeting for the measure and for the amendments designed to protect the office’s mission from future budget or leadership changes. The council adopted the committee recommendation and passed the ordinance on a roll-call vote recorded by the clerk; the clerk announced 12 affirmative votes.
The ordinance passage directs the city to give the Office of Food Justice a statutory footing and positions it to coordinate municipal food security work, align city, state and federal programs, and support culturally relevant food access initiatives.
The council will publish the final ordinance text and any implementing guidelines once codified.
