There are five goals stated on the group’s website, including giving local farms a leg up in competing with larger farms:
1. Stand with working families. Commit to ensuring that all Americans have access to healthy, affordable food.
2. Keep our kids healthy. Stop companies from marketing junk food to kids and end subsidies that support processed junk food.
3. Make farm policy work for all farmers. Reform agricultural policies, subsidies, and supports to ensure fair markets and pricing for diverse farmers of all sizes. Promote healthy diets and support sustainable, diversified, and organic farming in all communities.
4. Protect food and farm workers. End Fair Labor Standards exemptions for farm workers, raise the minimum wage for all food workers, and eliminate the sub-minimum wage for restaurant workers.
5. Keep antibiotics working. Ban the practice of feeding antibiotics to farm animals that are not sick.
To bring attention to its cause, it is taking a food truck through battleground states. It also held a contest among universities earlier in the year, each submitting outreach plans to campaign for reform. The winner and two runners up, selected by a panel of judges made up of celebrity chefs, food advocates, elected officials, writers and policy experts. These universities have won funding to execute their winning proposals: The Ohio State University won, with Iowa State University, and Dartmouth College earning runners-up status.
Plate of the Union doesn’t connect with everyone. The National Review, a conservative magazine, accused the movement of trying to force elitist liberal policy on America.