LOS ANGELES — A new county office focused on addressing the root causes of food-system issues in the greater Los Angeles area will be led by a former senior advisor to ex-LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, officials announced Friday.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved an initiative to form the Office of Food Equity, which will be a public-private partnership between the county, Annenberg Foundation, California Community Foundation and the Weingart Foundation.

What You Need To Know

  • Paula Daniels, who also founded the LA Food Policy Council, will serve as the executive director

  • Daniels is expected to achieve food system goals and advance the agenda of the Food Equity Roundtable, an advisory group formed in 2021

  • A USC report found that one in three households (34%) in LA County faced food insecurity during the pandemic, and the figure remains close to 30% Friday

Paula Daniels, who also founded the LA Food Policy Council, will serve as the executive director.

“The county has a responsibility to act as a safety net for our most vulnerable communities, who disproportionately suffer from food insecurity,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, who helped create the Food Equity Roundtable, said in a statement. “This new Office of Food Equity marks an important first step in bringing the Roundtable’s Action Plan to life and helping those most in need. This investment will pay dividends throughout the County for years to come.”

Daniels is expected to achieve food system goals and advance the agenda of the Food Equity Roundtable, an advisory group formed in 2021.

According to the county, this multi-sector effort began in response to the global pandemic, when “tons of food from the supply chain went to waste and many farmers faced financial crisis even as vulnerable populations sought greater access to health and nutritious food.”

A USC report found that one in three households (34%) in LA County faced food insecurity during the pandemic, and the figure remains close to 30% Friday.

The county is home to more than 1,000 farms and sits adjacent to Southern and Central California counties that are the country’s largest producers of fruits, nuts and vegetables.

The Office of Food Equity will seek to improve affordable healthy food options, build market demand and consumption of nourishing food, and support more resilient food systems, officials said.

“That means building a more robust, community-focused food system that can support our local businesses from farm to fork while incentivizing affordability for our populations of need. This will be an office of innovation and entrepreneurialism,” Daniels said in a statement.

The office will be housed at Community Partners, the LA-based nonprofit located downtown.

“We are happy to support this innovative approach to solving critical issues like food insecurity,” LA County CEO Fesia Davenport said in a statement. “Bringing together key stakeholders through public-private partnerships like these creates the level of sustained focus and collective impact needed to achieve the results we all want.”