The Montgomery County Food Council is a nonprofit organization that serves as the primary connection point for businesses, nonprofits, government agencies, and residents around food system issues in our County. We bring together over 2,000 local and regional partners in community-wide education, advocacy, and capacity building initiatives. Our work cultivates a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable local food system by enhancing food access for the over 100,000 at risk for hunger, expanding food education opportunities for all residents, supporting our County’s farms and food and beverage businesses, and addressing the impact of local food production, distribution, consumption and recycling on our natural resources.
Our mission is to bring together a diverse representation of stakeholders in a public and private partnership to improve the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of Montgomery County, Maryland through the creation of a robust, local, sustainable food system.
Our vision is to cultivate a vibrant food system in Montgomery County that consciously produces, distributes, and recycles food, making it accessible to all residents while promoting the health of the local food economy, its consumers, and the environment.
The backbone of our work is our four Working Groups: Food Recovery and Access, Food Economy, Food Education, and Environmental Impact. We are an active participant in urban and rural policy and process change, leading the way to a more healthful and sustainable community by bringing together producers, retailers, consumers, and educators in a coordinated effort to address the broad range of issues surrounding food and food sourcing in our county. The Food Council engages constituents with the local food system through job opportunities, volunteer projects, and purchasing practices, and educates Montgomery County residents and institutions to promote a greater awareness of the entire food cycle: where food comes from, where it ends up, and its social, environmental, and economic impacts.
On December 20, 2010, eighty-six Maryland stakeholders held a three-hour community conversation at Montgomery County’s Agricultural History Farm Park. It was a diverse gathering of concerned residents and local leaders who sat down together and discussed the outline of a bold vision for a Sustainable Community Food System Initiative for Montgomery County. The stakeholders included experienced and new farmers, county government officials, nonprofit leaders, community activists, and business entrepreneurs from companies large and small.
It was determined that the appropriate next step was to create a Food Policy Council for Montgomery County.
Subsequent follow-up meetings were convened to establish an advisory board, finalize the Office of the County Executive funding to create the Food Council, and hire a Coordinator.
The Montgomery County Food Council was officially launched in February 2012. Its 25 current Council Members broadly represent the food system both substantively and geographically, and include chef restaurateurs, food entrepreneurs, and representatives of local government, non-profits, and business. As of September, 2018 the Food Council is an independent 501(c) 3, non-profit organization.
May 17
Every other Monday, 1:00 to 2:00pm. Please register in advance.
May 18, 25, June 1
The Montgomery County Planning Department would like to extend a special invitation to you, your organization, clients, and/or stakeholders to attend the 2021 Spring Speakers Series starting Tuesday, May 18th from 6-8PM.
May 19
Third Wednesday of each month, 9-10:30am via Zoom.
May 19
11AM-12:15PM - Tune in to learn more about food insecurity in the County and the County’s COVID-19 food assistance response.
May 23
Come out to One Acre Farm to meet Farmer Mike, the team, and learn about how One Acre Farm grows veggies and maintains (and improves) the health and resilience of the farm's soil!
May 25
4th Tuesday of each month, 9:30-11am via Zoom.
May 25
11AM-12PM - Join us for a virtual training to learn best practices for recruiting and managing volunteers in your food assistance organization.
Jun 1
The first Tuesday of the month from 9:30AM-11AM via Zoom.
July 27th, Oct 26th
The Food Education Working Group (FEdWG) would like to cordially invite you to our Gardening Grant showcase that we will be taking place over the course of four (4) FEdWG meetings in 2021.