Better food systems
Farm to Fork
Bringing cross-sector allies together to advocate for meaningful farm and food policies, the Farm to Fork Initiative is an example of highly effective messaging and strategy coordination.
Spitfire partners with Arabella Advisors to co-lead the Farm to Fork Initiative, which convenes advocates from across the food policy spectrum to share policy strategies, identify opportunities for collaboration, and develop shared messaging for specific policy battles. The Initiative works closely with the Farm to Fork steering committee, which includes the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Environmental Working Group, Food Policy Action, the Food Research and Action Center, the National Resource Defense Council, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The Initiative works to ensure our food system is equitable and sustainable and makes nutritious food available for everyone.
Last year, Spitfire developed key messages for the Initiative that underscore the values driving this cross-sector collaboration: equity, sustainability, and abundance. Spitfire developed and maintains a website for the Initiative and amplified communications at key moments, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s appointment confirmation. In the past, Spitfire developed Good Food message guides and trained steering committee organizations’ staff on how to utilize the messaging. This guide was developed from Spitfire-led public opinion research including focus groups and a national survey about moderate and swing voters’ thoughts on issues related to food. The guide provides a roadmap for connecting food policy with voters’ values and priorities to engage them and move them to action.
Today, a coalition of more than 50 advocacy groups that represent diverse interests and issues are using Farm to Fork messaging to call for equitable and sustainable food, understanding that in the U.S., we have the resources to ensure that no one is hungry; the food we eat is safe and healthy; the people who harvest, stock, and serve our food are treated fairly, and the way we grow and distribute food respects our natural resources and the environment for generations to come.
As key policy moments arise, such as the introduction of the Farm Bill, the cross-sector Farm to Fork Initiative highlights a coordinated “Good Food Movement” — calling for policies to support an equitable and sustainable food system that makes nutritious food available for everyone.