U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur honored as Ohio Food Hero
NOVEMBER 8, 2021
Ohio Food Policy Network
On November 8, 2021, the Ohio Food Policy Network (OFPN) presented the Ohio Food Hero award during the eleventh annual Food Policy Summit to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative for the Ohio Ninth Congressional District. The OFPN Summit, held virtually this year, focused on food policy at the local, state, and national level. The Ohio Food Hero award is an opportunity to recognize Ohioans dedicated to strengthening collaboration and advancing the goals of OFPN.
Congresswoman Kaptur’s commitment to local and regional food systems are rooted in her upbringing in Toledo, where her family owned a small grocery store that prided itself on selling local products long before it was popular. As the longest serving woman in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives, she has continued this dedication to local food and agriculture through her tireless advocacy for sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems. Her legislative work has included securing $30 million for the Farmers Market Nutrition Program and $9.5 million for urban agriculture and innovative production as part of the House of Representatives’ proposed 2022 federal budget. More recently, she led House members in advocating for an additional $100 million for the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program and the Women, Infants, and Children Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.
Congresswoman Kaptur’s work epitomizes commitment to OFPN goals of increasing food access and fostering local economic opportunities through sustainable agriculture. In her address to the Ohio Food Policy Summit, Congresswoman Kaptur shared opportunities for supporting local food system work, food system lessons learned from the pandemic, and how policy councils and advocates can benefit from and advance local and regional food systems.
About Ohio Food Policy Network
Ohio Food Policy Network (OFPN) supports a food system that is sustainable, healthful, equitable, resilient, and accessible. OFPN serves as a social scaffolding to support the skill development, information sharing, and coalition building needed to grow and develop a food system that supports and serves all Ohioans. For more information, visit ohiofpn.org.