The North Texas Food Policy Alliance is launched and established by the University of Texas at
Arlington and RCE North texas. According to The Food Policy Networks (FPN), a project of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), less than 5% of all the Food Policy Councils in the U.S. are embedded within
universities and academic institutions

The 16 counties in the North Central Texas region covered by this Partnership include: Collin, Dallas,
Denton, Ellis, Erath, Hood, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell,
Tarrant, and Wise. These 16 counties of North Texas encompass a diverse, vibrant demographic and
economic region. Having grown dramatically over the past forty years, North Texas is about to become
more heavily populated with population projections more than doubling from the current 7.2 million
residents by the year 2050. In this rapid growth scenario, all sectors of the region have grave concerns
which prompt the question, “How will North Texas fare as it confronts the diverse population
projections together with the associated environmental, economic, and social challenges that are sure
to follow?”

One in seven Texans experienced food insecurity before the pandemic. Five million Texans—the highest
of any state—live in food deserts, one of the highest rates in the US. A third of Texans are overweight
because of imbalanced diet and therefore at risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular
disease. Women, children, people of color, refugees and vulnerable groups are disproportionately
affected. In Texas, small farmers, ranchers and small agri-food businesses were struggling even before
the pandemic, because they received only 15 cents of every dollar spent on food. Of particular note,
that 15 cents on the dollar is less than half of what farmers were receiving for their goods 20 years ago.
Only 8% of food grown locally is sold locally; the rest travels long distances throughout the United
States. US food imports have nearly doubled in the past 10 years. A third of all food is wasted, while
millions struggle with food insecurity. Limited access to fresh, healthy food is a complex challenge that
calls for comprehensive, coordinated solutions.

In 2010, UT Arlington partnered with North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) on Vision
North Texas (VNT), a private, public and academic partnership created to serve as a forum for dialogue
and action on the important issues of population growth, environmental, economic, and social
challenges. The VNT resultant report, North Texas 2050, presented the following recommendations that
align and support the goals and objectives of the NTFPA:
● Support locally grown food and local agriculture in North Texas.
● Produce a package of ‘healthy community’ recommendations for consideration by North Texas
counties, cities and towns.
● North Texas counties, cities and towns should create a regional network of healthy community
action plans to implement these recommendations.
OMB No. 0581-0240
● Develop strategies that increase youth involvement in growing, preparing and marketing
nutritious food.
● Begin work on new tools to implement regional, natural asset initiatives. The role of natural
assets in the region’s targeted future will require the use of new analytical tools and regional
collaborations. The regional transfer of development rights, the use of a regional conservancy to
operate and manage conservation easements region-wide, and the incentives developed and
sustained for production of food close to the region will all involve extensive dialogue and
research.

The North Texas 2050 report is available online:
https://www.developmentexcellence.com/SharedMedia/DevelopmentExcellence/documents/North_Te
xas_2050.pdf)