On Wednesday, March 20, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP)—a framework for institutional food sourcing that the ASPCA actively supports in cities across the country as part of our broader Shop With Your Heart program.

The GFPP promotes the procurement of food that is more humanely produced, nutritious, locally sourced, environmentally sustainable and fairer to workers. The program mandates higher farm animal welfare by requiring participating institutions to source from higher-welfare farms and/or reduce their overall consumption of animal products.

The ASPCA and our Boston supporters, in conjunction with local campaigners, worked tirelessly to see this important legislation passed. We are proud to have contributed testimony, strategic support and animal welfare expertise. Boston’s schools and public institutions serve thousands of meals each day, so as a large-scale buyer of animal products, the City’s shift to a more humane purchasing policy will help immensely to improve the treatment of animals raised for meat, eggs and dairy.

Please join our Advocacy Brigade to stay tuned as we continue to bring you updates on GFPP’s progress and the ASPCA’s involvement. YOUR city could be next!