(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) In September 2009, the federal centers for disease control and prevention reported that no state in the country was meeting national goals for the amount of fruits and vegetables that Americans should be eating. As a result, the centers for disease control and prevention identified, as a first strategy, the creation of food policy councils to improve the food environment and economies at the local, regional, and state levels. (b) Food policy councils consist of multistakeholder organizations that employ a food systems approach that facilitates evaluation and program development at every stage of the food process from farm to table. By 2016, there were over two hundred twenty food policy councils throughout the United States addressing issues such as healthy food access, economic development, and food procurement. Colorado's food systems advisory council, which was created in 2010, has focused primarily on strengthening healthy food access for all Coloradans through the growth of Colorado agriculture and local food systems and economies. (c) In 2017, Colorado state university, in partnership with the council and others, released the Colorado blueprint of food and agriculture that identified key assets, emerging issues, and shared priorities for future investments in food and agriculture throughout Colorado. The blueprint and the existing work of the council demonstrate that building local, regional, and state food economies will create jobs, stimulate statewide economic development, and circulate money from local food sales within local communities. (d) The continuation and enhancement of the council is necessary to address the recommendations in the blueprint to support food system changes designed to grow local, regional, and statewide food economies within which agricultural producers have access to new markets and Colorado's population has improved access to fresh, affordable, and healthy foods; and (e) Building robust, resilient, and long-term local and regional food economies in Colorado will preserve and protect the natural environment; increase consumer access to fresh, healthy, and safe foods; and provide greater food security for all Coloradans.
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