Alice Ammerman, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and professor of nutrition in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, has joined a new state council focused on improving policies and access to local, sustainable food in North Carolina.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight appointed Ammerman to the North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council. Gov. Bev Perdue, Speaker Joe Hackney and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler also made appointments to the 27-member council.
The advisory council was created by the N.C. General Assembly in August 2009 to study, develop and promote policies that will create jobs, support communities, preserve the natural environment, increase access to fresh and nutritious foods, and provide greater food security for all North Carolinians. The panel is part of the Farm-to-Fork initiative, which is leading the effort for a Statewide Action Plan to develop a local food economy.
The panel’s first meeting will be Tuesday, February 2 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Martin Building on the NC State Fairgrounds. The diverse group includes representatives from local food advocacy groups, businesses that produce and deliver food, health agencies and local and sustainable food advocates.
Ammerman has a strong interest in local and sustainable foods and leads the Gillings Innovation Laboratory: Linking Local, Sustainable Farming and Health. She has been part of the Farm-to-Fork program since its beginning and partners with the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) at NC State University on the GIL project and other work.