On Monday, September 29, 2025, food system advocates and elected officials gathered at Haven Community Garden to bring attention to Food and Hunger issues in the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County, and Onondaga Nation. The press conference also marked the realease of SOFSA’s 2025 Food Policy Voter Guide.
Eighteen electoral candidates responded to the candidate questionnaire that informed the voter guide. Of these, nine joined us on Monday to share about their stances and personal stakes in improving our food system. Those present included: Timothy Rudd, Gregory Eriksen, Kenyata Calloway, Nicole Watts, Elaine Denton, Dave Knapp, Nodesia Hernandez, Hanah Ehrenreich, and Page Steinhardt. Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, who had planned to attend, was called back to City Hall due to an emergency evacuation in the area but her policy positions can be found in the voter guide.
Out of all the issues covered in the Voter Guide, all respondents, regardless of party line, agreed that we needed to increase access to food and to invest in local agriculture. Candidates at the press conference largely united around their experiences growing food with family or youth, and the power we can have when we come together around uniting issues like these.
Candidates elevated the need to use data to inform food system action, the importance of leveraging grant funding towards urban and local agriculture, sustaining and expanding SNAP and other social safety nets like WIC, and the importance of considering culturally appropriate foods when we’re talking about food access.
To learn more about where candidates stand on food system issues, read the voter guide below. Like Dona Wonacott of the Syracuse League of Women Voters said in her closing remarks, “Voting is not a spectator sport, you actually have to participate.”