The Montgomery County Food Council is excited to share that Delegate Lorig Charkoudian and Senator Katie Fry Hester are proposing a bill to the Maryland General Assembly, HB0831/SB0723 that would establish a Maryland Food System Resiliency Council within the Maryland Emergency Management Agency. The hearing in the House will be held on Wednesday, 2/17/21 at 1:30pm, and in the Senate on Thursday, 3/4/21 at 1:00pm.
This Council would address the food insecurity crisis in the State that has arisen as a result of the pandemic, develop recommendations to increase the long-term resiliency of the food system, develop a plan to increase the production and procurement of Maryland certified food, and ultimately serve as a leader to guide collaborative food system efforts throughout the state.
We invite your organization to engage in this bill in any/all of the following ways:
- Sign-on to the letter of support linked here, by contacting cnardi@mocofoodcouncil.org no later than Friday, February 26th at 5pm.
- Submit your own letter of support, following the instructions included in this document. Your testimony must be uploaded to the MGA website between 10am-3pm on 3/2 for the Senate hearing.
- Call your local delegate on the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee
- Share the sign-on and information included in this blog post with your networks!
The Food Council’s testimony is linked here for those interested in more information. Please contact cnardi@mocofoodcouncil.org with any questions.