Food Policy Resources

The Deep South has a strong agricultural history, but too many resources are concentrated in the hands of a few. Now a group of African American farmers in Mississippi and Alabama are banding together to access larger markets, engage young people and redefine farming as a path to prosperity. 

Food system assessment is an important first step toward understanding the local food system and identifying opportunities for strengthening and enhancing the system. Community food assessments (CFAs) may also serve as a starting point for building relationships and beginning conversations among diverse community members and stakeholder groups about the local food system and how they would like to see it grow or change. This guide supports the process of conducting a CFA in your community.  While some of the information is specific to Kansas, much of it can be applied to other areas of the country.

Created by Barbara LaClair

 In the past decade, California urban agriculture has broken through the asphalt and into the core of the politics and practice of urban life. Today, the many forms of urban agriculture are as diverse as the people who tend the soil in cities throughout the state. This brief explores whether urban agriculture (and more specifically, California legislation AB 551) contributes to structural transformation, increasing inequality and gentrification, or all of the above.

Createdby Erin Havens and Antonio Roman-Alcalá

On March 3, 2016, Austin (Texas) City Council passed Resolution 20160303-020, which directed the City Manager to 1) develop recommendations for improving access to fresh, healthy and affordable food, and 2) provide a status update on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment, as well as recommendations to improve those efforts. The Resolution also requested a fiscal note for consideration. The recommendations provided in this document as a response to that resolution were developed with the goal of creating lasting change that could be sustained over the long-term. They are designed to build on the strengths and interests of community members, as well as existing City of Austin initiatives and community partnerships.

A variety of health care institutions across the U.S. have begun to adopt programs, practices and polices to support a healthy food system. Following their model, any facility can choose one, a few or all of the recommendations in this menu to improve the quality of its food choices.

Power Mapping is a tool that groups can use both formally and informally to plan (map) a strategy to achieve a specific goal. In the case of food policy councils, it can be used to identify who and what will be helpful (or necessary) in achieving a policy or program goal. The "who" and the "what" come with relative amounts of power in terms of supporting or opposing your goal. This illustration was developed from a presentation given at the Chesapeake Food Policy Leadership Institute Training.

Created by: Mark Winne.

The goal of this toolkit is to guide and enhance the capacity of local organizations to make more deliberate and credible measurements of local and regional economic activity and other ancillary benefits. The Toolkit is made up of seven modules that can be grouped into two stages of food system planning, assessment, and evaluation. The first set of modules (1-4) guides the preliminary stages of an impact assessment and includes framing the system, relevant economic activities and assessment process as well as collecting and analyzing relevant primary and secondary data. The second set of modules (5-7) provides a more technical set of practices and discussion of how to use the information collected in stage one to conduct a more rigorous analysis.

Created by Dawn Thilmany McFadden, Allie Bauman, Rebecca Hill and Becca B.R. Jablonski, David Conner, Steven Deller, David Hughes, Ken Meter and Megan Phi

Significant health and environmental consequences are associated with industrialized meat and poultry production and distribution, including antibiotic resistance, and air and water contamination. This health care procurement guide, focused on meat and poultry, helps facilities start purchasing plans that take these critical issues into consideration and overcome barriers to identifying and accessing sustainably-raised or grown products.

Food and Farm Councils have quickly become a trend in Kansas. They are being established in communities all over the state with efforts led by diverse health, agriculture, and economic development partners. This webinar discussed what Food and Farm Councils are, and what steps communities have taken to establish these councils. Additionally, it covered what Public Health Law Center tools are available, and how to use the tools to support new or future food policy work in your community.  While some of the information is specific to Kansas, much of it can be applied to other areas of the country.

Presenters: Missty Lechner, Natasha Frost

This report reviews the literature and key information resources regarding institutional food service procurement systems, presents the potential benefits of a large-scale shift among institutional procurement policies, discusses some of the existing barriers to the adoption of policies that favor regionally and/or sustainably produced food, and provides recommendations and tools for influencing institutional food procurement practices. The report is intended to serve as a resource for those seeking a better understanding of institutional food service procurement policies and provide a rationale for working toward reform.

Created by: Claire Fitch and Raychel Santo.

While midsize family farms in Iowa and across America have been disappearing for decades, this found that increased demand for fresh, sustainably-grown local food offers new economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities. According to the report, smart public policies that connect local farmers to large food buyers such as supermarkets, restaurants, hospitals and school districts can help bring back midsize farms, create thousands of jobs and boost the local economy.

This fact sheet outlines the key components of the Kansas “Government Control” law passed in 2016 that granted state government control over regulation and oversight of food service operations, retail food establishments, and other matters concerning local food and agricultural practices. This resource explains the law and its potential implications for local and statewide efforts to increase access to healthy foods in Kansas.

Changes to the City of Pittsburgh's Urban Agriculture Zoning Code in July 2015 made it easier to get permits for raising animals and bees, and made agriculture a permitted primary use of land within the city. These new developments inspired the creation of this resource guide to help aspiring urban growers navigate the requirements for growing and selling food in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Racism, the systemic mistreatment of people based on their ethnicity or skin color, affects all aspects of our society, including our food system. While racism has no biological foundation, the socio-economic and political structures that dispossess and exploit people of color, coupled with widespread misinformation about race, cultures and ethnic groups, make racism one of the more intractable injustices causing poverty, hunger and malnutrition. Racism is not simply attitudinal prejudice or individual acts, but an historical legacy that privileges one group of people over others. This report is first in a series about how racism and our food system have co-evolved, how present-day racism operates within the food system, and what we can do to dismantle racism and build a fair, just and sustainable food system that works for everyone.

Created by Eric Holt-Giménez and Breeze Harper

Government procurement—the process by which the federal, state, and local governments use tax dollars to purchase goods and services—can both improve american diets and benefit local food systems. This guide provides an overview of the factors affecting whether a state or local agency may procure locally produced food and agricultural products. 

Bridging the Gap was a nationally recognized research program with the goal to improve the understanding of how policies and environmental factors affect diet, physical activity and obesity among youth, as well as youth tobacco use.  The program offers research, data and tools related to school district wellness policies, state obesity-related policies, and soda/snack taxes.

This manual provides guidance adn tools for local governments to develop their own Racial Equity Action Plans after a period of research and information gathering. Government Alliance on Race and Equity created a Racial Equity Action Plan template after a national scan of promising practices from cities and counties that have developed plans for racial equity and the structures that supported successful planning processes.

Created by Ryan Curren, Julie Nelson, Dwayne S. Marsh, Simran Noor, and Nora Liu

Urban agriculture has become a popular topic for metropolitan areas to engage in on a program and policy level. It is touted as a means of promoting public health and economic development, building social capital, and repurposing unused land. Food policy councils and other groups that seek to position urban agriculture to policymakers often struggle with how to frame the benefits of and potential problems with urban agriculture. In some cases, the enthusiasm is ahead of the evidence. This review provides an overview of the documented sociocultural, health, environmental, and economic development outcomes of urban agriculture. Demonstrated and potential benefits, as well as risks and limitations, of this growing field will be discussed. We also offer recommendations for further research to strengthen the scholarship on urban agriculture.

Presented by : Raychel Santo, Anne Palmer, and Brent Kim.

The FPN project and LiveWell Colorado cohosted a discussion for state food policy councils about state government positions in food systems. The conversation featured Sarah Hanson (Office of Farm to Fork, California Department of Food and Agriculture), Amy Gilroy (Farm to School Program Manager, Oregon Department of Agriculture), Ali Zipparo (Food and Markets Senior Agriculture Market Development Specialist/NFSN State Lead, Vermont Agency of Agriculture), and Bonita Oehlke (Market Development and Food Systems Planning, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources) talking about the impact of their positions on local food systems and what food policy councils can do to support similar positions in their states.

On Sept. 20, 2016, the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future welcomed the National Conference of State Legislatures to present highlights from their report Harvesting Healthier Options: State Legislative Trends in Local Foods, 2012-2014. Participants also heard about the passage of the Massachusetts Food Trust Program in 2014.

State legislatures across the nation are bringing policy to a vote in support of local and regional food systems. Over a two-year period, from 2012 to 2014, 36 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation in support of local and regional food systems. In 2014, Massachusetts blazed a trail for comprehensive food access policy with passage of the Massachusetts Food Trust Program. The policy aims to expand healthy food retail, support urban agriculture businesses, and engage the Massachusetts Food Policy Council.

Presented by: Douglas Shinkle and Mindy Bridges, National Conference of State Legislatures; Bonita Oehlke and Rose Arruda, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources; Kristina St. Cyr, Massachusetts Public Health Association.