Building a Better Food System Through Public Purchasing: Lessons from the Power of Procurement Conference
Earlier this month, NJFDC’s Executive Director, Jeanine Cava, joined food system leaders from across the country at the Power of Procurement Conference in Chicago (October 8–10, 2025). The gathering, hosted by the Center for Good Food Purchasing and national partners, explored how local governments, institutions, and advocates are rethinking how public dollars are spent on food—and how those dollars can be used to build healthier, more equitable, and more resilient food systems.
The conference brought together procurement officials, community advocates, food hubs, and policy experts who are working to integrate community values—nutrition, equity, environmental sustainability, fair labor, and support for local economies—into public food purchasing.
What We Learned
Several key takeaways from the conference connect directly to NJFDC’s work and our partners’ shared goal of advancing values-based food procurement in New Jersey:
Partnership over purchasing. The most successful efforts, such as those in Cook County, Illinois, depend on collaboration and trust between government staff and community advocates. Internal “champions” within government play a crucial role—but so do coordinated food policy councils and coalitions that help sustain the effort from the outside.
Transparency drives change. As one session put it: “If we don’t have transparency, we don’t have values-based procurement.” Understanding what food is purchased, from whom, and at what scale is essential to making improvements over time.
Forward contracts and long-term relationships. Organizations like The Common Market have shown that multi-year purchasing commitments can help smaller and regional producers plan ahead, invest in infrastructure, and reliably serve public institutions.
Legal and policy clarity. Efforts led by Emory University and The Common Market are clarifying what’s possible within state and local procurement law. These tools can help states like New Jersey understand what’s already allowed—and where flexibility exists—to align food spending with shared values.
A National Movement for Good Food
The conference concluded with a Good Food Purchasing Declaration, affirming the growing national commitment to ensuring that public food dollars advance health, sustainability, and local economic opportunity. NJFDC, along with hundreds of attendees at the conference, was invited to stand publicly in solidarity with the Declaration by signing on to it.
What’s Next for New Jersey
Building on lessons from this conference, NJFDC will continue to strengthen its understanding of how food purchasing and contracting work across New Jersey’s state agencies—including:
How food purchasing and bidding currently operate within and across departments;
Where there may be opportunities to strengthen coordination or increase access for local and diverse suppliers; and
How future values-based initiatives can align with the State’s existing processes.
This is an early but important step toward building shared understanding and relationships that can make New Jersey’s food procurement system more transparent, inclusive, and values-aligned. As the Power of Procurement Conferencemade clear, every community has a role to play in shaping a food system that reflects our shared values.
NJFDC will be growing the NJ Healthy & Equitable Food Procurement Coalition over the coming months. If you’re interested in getting involved or learning more about this work as it develops, please reach out to us at fooddemocracycollabnj@gmail.com with a brief introduction and your area of interest.
NJFDC’s work to learn about and coalition-build for values-based public food procurement is made possible by a planning grant from the Growing Justice Fund.
