Guardians of Good Food: Giving Thanks for Chef Activists

November 3rd marked the largest single event of citizen activism in 2015: Election Day. Americans across the country exercised their right to civic involvement by voting for leaders and legislation they believe in. But voting is only one small part of citizen activism. In the months and weeks leading up to Election Day, millions of Americans lobbied, worked for a political campaign, volunteered to support an initiative or protested.

As we transition to a presidential election year, activists on both sides of the political spectrum are gearing up to ensure that the issues they care about aren't ignored. One group is making sure that the food we grow, the animals we raise and the meals we eat are part of the presidential agenda. Chefs all over the country are saying it's time for a smart, safe and sustainable food policy that prioritizes citizen safety and health over investor profits and board room bottom lines.

Organizing for a National Food Policy

Last November, celebrity food writers Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan paired with scientist Ricardo Salvador and Olivier de Schutter, a professor of international human rights law, to write a manifesto advocating for a national food policy. Entitled, "How a national food policy could save millions of American lives," the piece published in The Washington Post pointed out that the food industry, the largest sector of the U.S. economy, impacts every aspect of our lives, from our health to our environment. Yet, the authors note, we have no national food policy in place to manage food systems and agriculture.

The manifesto created a buzz and spurred further action, especially among chefs who were already organizing and advocating for safer, more sustainable food systems. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's Food Policy Action has partnered with the Food Policy Action Education Fund, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the HEAL Food Alliance to create Plate of the Union. The advocacy movement asks our next president "to commit to reforming our broken food system to ensure every American has equal access to healthy, affordable food that is fair to workers, good for the environmentand keeps farmers on the land."

Also working toward national change, the Chef Action Network is a growing coalition that helps chefs become effective leaders in the fight for food system changes. They are birthing a generation of chef-advocates, individuals who best understand the complex issues of food production and who can use their voices to drive progress. The James Beard Foundation, in partnership with CAN, conducts the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change. This September, I was lucky enough to attend a boot camp with chefs from across the country. We learned about issues and the political advocacy process. But more importantly, we were empowered to use our knowledge and resources to advocate for the changes we so passionately seek.

Activism is about action, and in October, Food Policy Action, CAN, the James Beard Foundation and Chefs Collaborative, a network of more than 10,000 culinary leaders, brought dozens of chef activists to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional representatives. The chefs went to Washington to educate national leaders about school food, sustainable food systems and other issues that Congress and the next president will face as food policy becomes a national priority.

Why I'm Grateful

I'm grateful because activism works. Politicians aren't the only ones hearing the message. Chefs around the country are not only raising their voices in support, they are making real changes in their restaurants that support local and sustainable food production, humane and healthy animal husbandry and fair trade and labor practices.

Organizations like Chefs Collaborative extend their work beyond advocacy to provide on-the-ground support to chefs doing their part to create better food systems. Chefs volunteer in their communities and in schools to help us all understand how we can change the ways we feed ourselves and our children. By broadening the market for responsibly-sourced food, chefs create increased access for those who don't have restaurant-sized budgets or purchasing power, like schools.

The doorways are opening wider, the networks connecting schools to healthy food are growing and change is happening. Early results from the 2015 Farm to School Census show over 42,000 schools across the country are serving $598 million worth of local, farm-fresh food to students. That's $212 million more than just two years ago. And the growing farm to school movement is having an impact on more than just local economies. Participating schools say more children are choosing to eat healthy school meals, their food costs are going down and they are seeing less food waste because of the delicious, fresh options.

If you are thankful, too, I encourage you to join chefs and activists around the country and to sign the Plate of the Union's petition asking the next president to guarantee that this amazing progress will continue with a national food policy. And I wish you a bountiful, safe, healthy and -- above all -- delicious Thanksgiving.

Chef Ann Cooper is a celebrated author, chef, educator and enduring advocate for better food for all children. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has been a chef for more than 30 years, over 15 of those in school food programs. She currently serves as the director of nutrition services for the Boulder Valley School District. Known as the Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann has been honored by The National Resources Defense Council, selected as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and awarded an honorary doctorate from SUNY Cobleskill for her work on sustainable agriculture. In 2009, Ann founded the nonprofit Chef Ann Foundation to focus on solutions to the school food crisis. CAF's pivotal project is The Lunch Box -- a web portal that provides free and accessible tools, recipes and community connections to support school food reform.