Services

Supporting nonprofits, governments, and research institutions with the expertise and strategies needed to advance equitable, resilient, and community-driven food systems through:

Resource & Toolkit Development

Practical tools tailored to your needs.
Clear, user-friendly resources and toolkits designed to help organizations navigate complex food systems issues, with background guidance on challenges rooted in statutory and regulatory frameworks and contracting landscapes.

Legal Research to Support Food Policy Scholarship and Policy Change

Rigorous research to inform decision-making.
Expertise in state, county, and municipal food legal research to support a wide range of technical assistance, including:

Designing and conducting state and local law searches and scans
Completing policy scans and comparative analyses
Tracking and analyzing proposed legislation and rule changes

These services help scholars, advocates, and government partners ground their strategies in accurate, up-to-date legal research.

Policy Drafting

From ideas to actionable policy.
Collaboration with coalitions, policy councils, and government partners to draft model policy language that reflects community priorities. Work also includes partnering with government attorneys and legislative bodies to finalize policy text—ensuring it is legally sound and aligned with local goals.

Food Policy Training

Increase capacity and confidence in policy work.
Customized training for local governments, food policy councils, nonprofits, coalitions, and other groups—delivered virtually or in person. These trainings increase knowledge, spark collaboration, and equip teams with practical policy tools to advance food systems change.

Food Policy Audits

Understand your policy landscape.
These inventories help policymakers, coalitions, and food policy councils identify existing policy supports and gaps. Audits can stand alone or complement a policy scan or food systems assessment. Deep expertise in navigating and analyzing local and state food policy ensures clear, actionable insights to guide next steps.

Advisory Committee Services Food Security and Related Efforts

Youth Coalition Food Policy Training

Content Development for Culinary Projects and Publications

Customized Consulting

Options for Legal Services

While Foodvocate LLC can provide background legal research and policy guidance, it is not organized to provide legal representation services including:

(1) Giving advice or counsel to persons or entities as to their legal rights or responsibilities or to those of others;

(2) Selecting, drafting, or completing legal documents or agreements that affect the legal rights of a person or entity;

(3) Representing a person or entity before an court or administrative law panel, including, but not limited to, preparing or filing documents or conducting discovery; or

(4) Negotiating legal rights or responsibilities on behalf of a person or entity.

Foodvocate LLC Principal, Amanda Karls, is licensed to practice law in Minnesota. If you are dealing with a legal matter in Minnesota and need legal representation, or are an attorney in another state and wish to associate with her for legal research on food policy-related issues, brief writing, amicus brief contributions or other legal matters, you may contact Amanda to discuss options in her separate capacity as an attorney at amandajgkarls@gmail.com.

If you need legal representation outside of Minnesota on matters related to your food policy or business goals, please contact an attorney in your area.