Boston Food Access Council
Boston Food Access Council
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  • More
    • Home
    • Updates
    • Meetings
    • Job Opportunities
    • Find Food
    • Resources
    • About BFAC
    • Steering Committee
    • Working Groups
    • Contact Us
    • BFAC Directory
  • Home
  • Updates
  • Meetings
  • Job Opportunities
  • Find Food
  • Resources
  • About BFAC
  • Steering Committee
  • Working Groups
  • Contact Us
  • BFAC Directory

BFAC Values Statement

  • The Boston Food Access Council (BFAC) brings together residents, activists, thought leaders, organizations, farmers, researchers, and other diverse stakeholders to address equitable food access in the city of Boston, recognizing its role in the larger Massachusetts food system.
  • The BFAC asserts that consistent access to healthy, nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food is a basic human right.
  • The BFAC seeks to create an anti-racist, inclusive, and participatory culture of learning by building trusting and transformational relationships within the community by engaging residents with lived experiences in hunger.
  • The BFAC aims to ground itself in a power-sharing model that honors and values all voices at the table, treating each with dignity and respect, and is trauma-informed and self-critical.
  • The BFAC seeks to offer a space to help provide an equitable, community-centered platform for food access, affordability, and economic opportunity.

BFAC Structure, Committees and Working Groups

Steering Committee

Steering Committee

Steering Committee

 The Steering Committee is an elected 9-member panel of community and organizational representatives who work to provide the administrative infrastructure for the BFAC, and work to shape the BFAC agenda from member input. 


  • Steering committee members serve 2 year terms, and 4-5 seats are up for election each December. Steering Committee members can serve 2 consecutive terms, per the current by-laws. It is encouraged that at least 4 seats be held for Community Members, though this is not currently in the by-laws. 
  • The Steering Committee elects 2 co-chairs to lead meetings and provide agendas & structure for the SC. The co-chairs are currently Christine E.M. Keller, PhD & Cheryl Jean. 
  • Steering Committee members meet 1-2 times per month, and facilitate the quarterly public meetings. Steering Committee members also serve as liaisons with the Working Groups.

Working Groups

Steering Committee

Steering Committee

 BFAC currently has four Working Groups:


  • Advocacy & Policy 
  • Community Outreach, Education, and Engagement 
  • Fundraising 
  • Mayor’s Food Access Agenda 


Working Groups are expected to hold regular (monthly) meetings. The Working Groups implement the BFAC Agenda through each group’s focus area, as determined by the Steering Committee and informed by BFAC Membership and work of OFA. The Working Groups develop and implement action plans, conduct research, develop partnerships, and conduct feasibility inquiries and planning.


Working groups are expected to engage the community for input gathering and recruitment to bring other voices to the table with a focus on inclusion of underrepresented voices. 


Working groups present recommendations to BFAC Steering Committee and BFAC Membership via Steering Committee and/or quarterly public meetings. 

Join a Working Group

Member Network

Steering Committee

Member Network

 Anyone with an interest in moving these issues forward can be a member; residency in the City of Boston is not required. To become a member of BFAC, you must submit a membership form. Members are encouraged to participate in at least 2 meetings per year, whether via public meetings or working groups.  

Join BFAC!

Relationship WITH OFJ

 The Boston Food Access Council was relaunched in 2020 by the City’s Office of Food Justice and a transition committee which designed the structure of the Council. The BFAC was relaunched as part of the Mayor’s Food Access Agenda which was released in 2019 following strategic planning work with the City’s team and stakeholders. 


BFAC is a volunteer-led independent organization that works to engage groups across Boston around food access issues. Though we work closely with OFJ, we remain independent to maintain the community-led nature of the group. 


We are aligned with the Office in many ways, but it’s important to note that we are not City-affiliated. Our network provides a community-led forum for engagement around food access issues. 

Connect With Us

Boston Food Access Council

Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/bostonfoodacc-czn2665/


Copyright © 2023 Boston Food Access Council - All Rights Reserved.


Boston Food Access Council is fiscally sponsored by NOPI - Nonprofit Incubator, a program of NOPI INC, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation and 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 81-5089505. Learn more at https://thenopi.org.

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