Mission Statement

The purpose of the Food and Farm Council is to advocate for and sustain an accessible, healthy, and local food system. The Food and Farm Council of Riley County and the City of Manhattan, Kansas envisions a local food system that supports healthy living in our community. To accomplish this the Council must:

• Identify and prioritize needs and make recommendations that promote, support, and strengthen access to local, healthy, safe, affordable food
• Educate and advise the City/County Commissions on local food system needs
• Provide a forum for people involved in different parts of the local food system and local government officials for fostering collaborative coordinated actions to improve our local food system

Council Goals

• Serve as a city- and county-appointed council of community members to strengthen communication, education, and policy within the food system.
• Make local and healthy food options more available, accessible, and affordable.
• Support education of growing, choosing, and preparing nutritious foods.
• Improve health outcomes through the reduction of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.

Council Membership Requirements

Members shall have expertise in relevant fields, and to the extent possible, represent the diversity of the community in aspects such as culture, gender, age, and geography. Priority will be given to applicants who live or work in the City of Manhattan, Riley County, and adjoining counties.

The 15-member Council will have six City appointees and nine County appointees. If you would like to serve as a member of the Council please review which stakeholder group you would like to represent and go to the City or County web page to fill out an interest form.

Member Qualifications

City Appointments

• One member representing the community-at-large
• One member representing food retail
• One member representing at-risk populations/hunger relief
• One member representing Kansas State University
• One member representing food system related business/Chamber member preferred.
• One member representing schools or other institutional food purchaser

County Appointments

• One member representing health professionals (Healthcare, nutrition, healthy food advocacy)
• One member representing senior citizens/at-risk populations
• One member representing waste management/recycling
• One member representing the community at large
• One member representing Kansas State Research and Extension/health food advocacy
• One member representing traditional agriculture production/ag organization
• One member representing small farm production
• One member representing the County Health Department or other public health/hunger relief
• One member that represents healthy food advocacy/hunger relief

Appointment Details

All Council members shall be dually appointed by the Riley County Board of Commissioners and the City of Manhattan City Commission. Initial appointments will be for staggered terms: one third will serve one year, one third will serve two years, and a third will serve three years. All appointments to fill the one- and two-year terms will be for three years thereafter.

The Council will be a group of community member convened to hold discussions, help improve coordination of services that impact our local food system, and provide a voice from the community to our elected city and county officials. 

The Food and Farm Council will use existing and new survey data, plus listening session and interview data, to determine what the community is saying, what the priority needs are, and to work on solution sets to make a stronger food system for our city and county. That can include working on food issues such as affordability of locally grown fruits/vegetables, easier access to healthy foods, food insecurity issues, including a systematic food recovery program, recycling, gardening, and more! The Council will meet at least six times a year.

City Liaison

Email City Manager's Office for more information.
785-587-2404

Additional Information

If the Food and Farm Council is more of a commitment than you have time for, you can still get involved and make a difference in our local food system by joining one or more of the FFC Community Action Teams (CATs) There are opportunities to be involved at the leadership, team level, or in sub-committee work with specific food system issues such as food insecurity, food safety, food skills, education, food waste, food recovery, and many others. Read more at https://nourishtogether.org/agency-category/i-want-to-volunteer 

The Food & Farm Council produced a local food system assessment, community survey, and Master Food Plan in 2021-22. The survey and assessment were used to develop the Master Food Plan, a long -range planning documents that lays out the community vision for improving our local food system. The plan defines goals and proposing action steps that can create a stronger local food system.  You can review these documents here.