Statement of Food Guiding Principles
Seeking Greater Access to Quality, Affordable Food

We will work as a coalition to ensure that:

1.     Access to healthy, affordable food is a human right, regardless of location, income, race or gender and therefore should be a top priority of Detroit public policy.

2.     Healthcare advocates seeking long-term solutions to disproportionate rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in low-income communities must include employment and wages as factors in considering access to healthy, affordable food.

3.     Healthy communities require a variety of purchasing options, including: farmers' markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), community gardens, urban agriculture, food co-ops and supermarkets. These entities must work together with city and state officials to ensure a balanced range of food sources.

4.     Public money and policies are used to ensure that existing and new responsible food retailers can build profitably in Detroit communities and still provide quality food at reasonable prices.

5.     Public/private partnerships are considered to finance existing responsible food retailers and the development of new food retailers responsive to community needs.

6.     Responsible food retailers produce entry-level and skilled jobs, pay a living wage, provide health benefits, pensions, and the type of financial job security necessary for a community to be economically viable. These jobs create economic stimulus and buying power in low-income communities to ensure food security and good health.  An economic stimulus is created by the community-based store.

7.     Workers employed by markets that do not meet their economic responsibilities by providing living wage jobs, health benefits, job security, job training and career advancement should be afforded the opportunity to organize and improve their working conditions.

8.     A regional approach to food procurement at the private and public levels will encourage lowering the cost of food, create jobs, ensure food safety, support small farmers and reduce carbon emissions, particularly by government and state agencies.

9.     The Federal Food Stamp Program will provide needed economic stimulus to Detroit if made accessible to all eligible participants. A unified legislative effort by advocates will maximize our ability to reform the food stamp program to meet the economic, health, and food access needs of Detroiters.

10.  Partnerships between supermarkets and health and nutrition advocates are created to ensure that communities benefit from increased food access.

11.  Our effort to expand supermarkets, a citywide education program is created to promote the three basic tenets that are the building blocks of all communities: good food, good jobs and good health.

12.  Increases in local jobs and the sale of locally produced foods are achieved through partnerships between supermarkets, local food manufacturers, regional farms, urban agriculture, and farmers' markets. Investment in infrastructure like the Eastern Market and wholesale farmers' markets will enhance these partnerships.

13.  A coalition of hunger advocates, environmental groups, health organizations, labor, industry representatives, city officials and community members continue to form, both in conjunction with, and separate from existing state and city councils to ensure the long-term viability of these food policy principles.

14.  In order to ensure good quality foods, enforcement of current health and safety codes is required within all stores selling food.