Pittsburgh Food Policy Council
The Pittsburgh Food Policy Council (PFPC) is the backbone coordination organization for the regional food system in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We convene and support a network of more than 100 member organizations across Allegheny County, farmers, community gardeners, nonprofits, health care providers, faith communities, food businesses, and government agencies, working together to build a food system that is equitable, resilient, and self-sustaining.
Misson: PFPC mobilizes people through listening, educating, and advocating for policies and programs that shift power, expand access to resources, and strengthen the Greater Pittsburgh Food System.
Vision: A just food system for all people in Greater Pittsburgh.
One in five Pittsburgh residents experiences food insecurity, and more than 140,000 people in Allegheny County don't have enough to eat. This crisis falls hardest on Black and low-income residents in communities shaped by decades of disinvestment and deindustrialization, conditions that amount to food apartheid, restricting access not only to nutritious food, but to the land, technical resources, and institutional support that would allow residents to grow food themselves. Emergency food distribution, provided by essential frontline partners across our network, addresses immediate suffering. PFPC works on the underlying systems, so that need doesn't just keep growing year after year.
Our main initiative is the Greater Pittsburgh Food Action Plan (GPFAP), the region's first comprehensive food systems strategy, shaped by input from over 600 residents and 100 stakeholder organizations. Through the GPFAP, we coordinate policy working groups, provide hands-on support to small and urban farmers, and bring the region together around a shared agenda for change.
What We Do
Working groups and subcommittees including Good Food Purchasing, Land Access, Community Composting, and Allegheny County Food Justice. These groups bring growers, advocates, and institutional partners together to shape policy and strategy directly.
Technical assistance and grant writing support helps small and urban farmers secure state and philanthropic funding they couldn't access on their own.
Land access research, including the Highest and Best Use of Land initiative with CRAFT (Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation), identifies underutilized land across Allegheny County for community-controlled, regenerative food production.
Farm to School coordination connects K-12 school districts, local producers, and distributors to build local food procurement into school systems, building on the success of the Good Food Purchasing Program in Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Policy advocacy, PFPC meets quarterly with the Mayor and County Executive to keep the council’s food policy priorities moving forward.
Community programs, including the Pittsburgh Urban Farm Tour, now in its ninth year, and the Urban Grower's Scholarship Fund with Grow Pittsburgh, which provides up to $500 per applicant for professional development.
