Food Policy Resources

This report provides a summary of the impact of the local food industry on Iowa’s economy in connection with efforts of the Regional Food Systems Working Group.  The Regional Food Working Group is a statewide collaboration between 15 regional food groups.  The report is based on an evaluation of four indicators of economic change: local food sales by farmers; local food purchases by food retailers; jobs created as a results of local food prodcuction, processing and utilization; and, funds leveraged by the Regional Food Systems Working Group to support development of regional food sysetms.

Created by Corry Bregendahl and Arlene Enderton.

In 1996, Congress passed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act to reduce potential donor liability and solves the problems created by a patchwork of various state laws through partial preemption. It also enables and encourages food recovery to help those that are food insecure. Many in the retail food industry are not aware of the Bill Emerson Act and the protections that it provides donors; some potential donors even believe it is illegal to donate food and grocery items. The primary purpose of this paper is to inform those involved in the retail food industry of the Bill Emerson Act and how it operates.

Created by James Haley

In this report, the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College explores the potential for creating “Good Food Jobs”–jobs that pay a living wage, offer safe working conditions, promote sustainable economic development, and make healthier food more accessible to all New Yorkers. The report investigates potential synergies between the need for more good food and more good jobs. It seeks to provide elected officials, city agencies, food businesses and employers, health professionals and workforce development programs with the evidence they need to forge effective policies and programs that will create new Good Food Jobs.

The model Healthy Food Zone Ordinance prohibits the location of fast food restaurants within a certain distance (as determined by the community) of schools, and (again, as determined by the community) parks, child care centers, libraries, and other locations children frequent. 

This toolkit is intended to provide a step-by-step checklist outlining the process of starting a food truck in Boston from idea to reality and includes links and/or forms (where practical) for required permit and license applications, sample contracts and forms, explanations of the legal and practical considerations pertinent to starting a new food truck business, and much more. 

Our national and international food system has implications for a wide range of issues that are important across the political spectrum and include improving health outcomes, reducing environmental impacts, increasing social justice, fostering economic development, and even improving homeland security. This article aims to encourage those localities not yet active in food policy to join the field. The discussion focuses on methods of fostering access to healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and other unprocessed, fresh products. Local governments are particularly well suited to increase food access because they have the unique ability to identify areas of need and then work with local constituents to craft targeted responses.

This report by SPUR recommends a series of policies to capture the benefits from the regional food system in the Bay Area. Local cities and counties in the Bay Area can help  preserve agricultural land that is at risk of being developed, promote economic development within the food industry and reduce greenhouse gases by diverting  food waste.

Created by Eli Zigas

Birmingham, Alabama has a long history of racial conflict and segregation. This dissertation investigates that how that history has shaped space in the region and the consequences of that spatial production on the current alternative food and agriculture movement. One section looks at how Birmingham's segregated space shapes the initiatives of the alternative food and agriculture movement. The author finds that there are two institutional structures that come from and animate spaces in Birmingham, one black and one white, and because the organizations creating a food policy council come almost exclusively from white space, the process for creating the council is almost wholly white.

Created by Zachary Floyd Henson

Local governments have opportunities to support food systems that promote economic viability, equitable community development and environmental sustainability. Recognizing this, the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems partnered with the International City/County Management Association to conduct a national survey in 2012 of local govenrments in the United States to assess the status of their current involvement with food systems. The survey was sent to municipalities with over 2,500 population and all counties, resulting in a total of nearly 2,000 responses across all 50 states. This brief summarizes key findings and provides insight into the ways and lenses through which local governments engage in food systems.

Created by Laura Goddeeris.

ChangeLab Solutions developed this Model Healthy Food System Resolution to help community members and policymakers start their own conversation about how the local government can support a healthier food system. It suggests numerous actions that the local government could take to understand the community's existing food system. The model resolution also establishes a Food Policy Council as an advisory board to the local legislative body (e.g., city council) to continue the food system dialogue after the resolution is enacted. 

This article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review highlights how collective impact efforts are upending conventional wisdom about the manner in which we achieve social progress. 

This report provides public health officials and other school stakeholders with an overview of legal and practical considerations impacting federal school nutrition programs and focuses on key legal and practical issues.

Across the country, local elected officials are coming to the realization that health begins in the communities where people live, work and go to school. At a time of growing concern about the rise of chronic disease linked to poor access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity, these officials understand that it is their responsibility — working alongside residents, neighborhood organizations and other leaders — to help make their communities healthier. In this brief, we take a look at some of the approaches local elected officials are taking to improve the health of their communities and share the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Created by Linda Shak, Lily Swartz, and Diana Rivera

This handbook is intended to help rural and remote regions to create a program that enables or increases food security in their communities, and ultimately builds more resiliencies into their community foodsheds.  The material for this resource is based on the food security work in Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada.

Created by Aimee Watson 

This report describes challenges faced and successes achieved by rural grocery stores in Oregon in the context of community food security.

This report, based on a systematically review of new studies since 2020, reevaluates the evidence baseand provides  an up-to-date summary of what is known about access to healthy food and why it matters. The majority of the evidence continues to support three primary findings: 1) accessing healthy food is still a challenge for many families, particularly those living in lowincome neighborhoods, communities of color, and rural areas; 2) living closer to healthy food retail is among the factors associated with better eating habits and decreased risk for obesity and diet-related diseases; and, 3) healthy food retail stimulates economic activity.

Created by Judith Bell, Gabriella Mora, Erin Hagan, Victor Rubin, Allison Karpyn

This report analyses and aggregates a collection of innovative solutions to overcoming difficult food access and food equity issues with a focus on market-based consumer-driven solutions for low-income underserved communities. It is based on learning from the Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center and from the work of others who are creating and implementing market-based and non-market-based food access solutions in a very hands-on, practical way.

Created by Michelle Frain Muldoon, Ashley Taylor, Nessa Richman and John Fisk

This guide is designed to help municipal governments in Ontario, Canada consider a range of initiatives in relation to the proposed Bill 36, Local Food Act, 2013, and the provincial Local Food Strategy. The guide builds upon many of the current municipal local food initiatives in Ontario and from other jurisdictions. Specific guidance is provided in the form of best practices and innovative case study examples to help support council decision-making regarding local food initiatives, policies and programs. Most importantly, the guide identifies the need to embed a commitment to the development and support of local food initiatives in day-to-day municipal operations in order to promote and support local food sectors.

This resource is a prototype for a "field guide" to understand how someone identifies what makes food good. The resource focuses on the interaction between competing perspectives on what makes food good, and the values different constituencies prioritize as they attempt to institutionalize their vision of a good food system. This project exemplifies the move toward engaged interdisciplinary scholarship that benefits from the interaction of people within and beyond higher education.

Created by Kirsten Valentine Cadieux.

Growing food on public property, from vacant fields, to schoolyards, parks, utility rights-of-way, and even the rooftops of public buildings, can yield a diverse crop of community benefits. Fresh, healthy food is just the beginning: growing food on public property can also promote civic participation, public safety, food literacy, job skills, and urban greening, in short, healthier, more vibrant places. This guide provides users with the tools they need to access public land for growing food.

Created by Ben Winig, Heather Wooten