Mayors Gather in Jamaica Plain to Push for Federal Help for Urban Nutrition

A high-powered group of mayors and city food czars visited Jamaica Plain Thursday afternoon as part of a U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force.

The group included mayors from as far away as Patterson, La.

The mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, spoke to the media about the millions of dollars spent via government food programs could be buying healthier food. She is the vice chairperson of the task force.

The mayors said they would be pushing for the massive federal Farm Bill to include more provisions for helping urban areas provide healthy food to all residents, regardless of income level.

The entire group met downtown Thursday morning. Mayors came not only from Baltimore and Patterson, La., but also Indianapolis; Cambridge; Weymouth; Newton; Madison, Wisc., and Burlington, Vt. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who is chairman of the task force, hosted. Also making the trip were city food directors from Philadelphia and Louisville, Ky.

Not all the mayors made it out to JP, including Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who had to leave for a police incident in his city.

The JP group got a tour of the and . Then they had a lunch at Bella Luna in which the dishes highlighted local food businesses such as and Batch Ice Cream.

At the center of it all was another JP person. , Boston's food czar, is a resident and former JP business owner. She coordinated the event.