Food Policy Resources

Where does your local food policy council fit within the regional food system? Would you like to play a stronger role in both your locality and at a regional level but not sure how? Functioning with limited resources and volunteer members, it can often be easiest for a food policy council to concentrate locally. By understanding the role of local food policy councils within the context of a regional food system, groups can network across geographies to maximize impact and effectiveness of policy changes.

During this webinar, expert panelists address a number of big picture questions about regional food systems, including: the role of local food policy councils within a regional network; when is it beneficial to connect across a region; how to determine your "region"; best practices and challenges for regional networks.

Presenters: Rich Pirog, Kathy Ruhf, Michael Dimrock

In the fall of 2014, the Ontario, Canada government consulted with stakeholders to develop aspirational local food literacy goals under the Local Food Act, 2013. The aspirational food literacy goals are as follows: increase the number of Ontarians who know what local foods are available; increase the number of Ontarians who know how and where to obtain local foods; and, increase the number of Ontarians who prepare local food meals for family and friends, and make local food more available through food service providers.

This report looks at examples from around the world, but particularly within the United States, where people are creating new ways of participating in democracy; new ways to engage and change our political systems; and, new ways of making autonomy and food sovereignty practical and real.

Created  by Jill Carlson and M. Jahi Chappell

In this research brief, UC Berkeley's Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society summarizes key facts and findings from their report on the US Farm Bill: Corporate Power and Structural Racialization in the US Food System. The report provides a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of how both corporate power and structural racialization within the US food system leaves marginalized communities disproportionately impacted by the agricultural policies and outcomes generated by the Farm Bill. It lifts up a series of short-term policy interventions and long-term strategies to address the major structural barriers in the United States food system.

Created by Hossein Ayazia and Elsadig Elsheikh

This fact sheet outlines the key components of a food vending or procurement policy and identifies resources to help government and private organizations develop and implement these policies for their buildings and campuses.

This report provides an overview of local and regional food systems across several dimensions. It details the latest economic information on local food producers, consumers, and policy, relying on findings from several national surveys and a synthesis of recent literature to assess the current size of and recent trends in local and regional food systems.

Created by Sarah A. Low, Aaron Adalja, Elizabeth Beaulieu, Nigel Key, Stephen Martinez, Alex Melton, Agnes Perez, Katherine Ralston, Hayden Stewart, Shellye Suttles, Stephen Vogel, and Becca B.R. Jablonski

The report highlights practical, effective strategies for communities to add locally sourced food to their institutional food systems; recommends ways to conceptualize and measure economic and health impacts; suggests effective funding strategies; and includes Critical Analysis of Economic Impact Methodologies, which discusses the literature on the economic impact of local foods.

Created  by Jess Lynch, Ken Meter, Grisel Robles-Schrader, Megan Phillips Goldenberg, Elissa Bassler, Sarah Chusid, Coby Jansen Austin

This document serves as an overview of four Vermont food hubs' efforts responding to an institutional demand for locally grown products. Farm-to-School programs have progressively expanded across the state of Vermont, thus stimulating a widespread increase in both local food supply and effective distribution. With a focus on food hubs to develop more sustainable Farm-to-School (FTS) programs, this process offered a chance for reflection on the opportunities and challenges associated with the projects. These arose from a multifaceted array of program aspects, from partnership collaboration to project growth and potential.

To encourage healthier school environments, many communities have worked with their local policymakers, school boards, and school staff to improve local policies on school foods. The Winston County and Montgomery County diabetes coalitions have provided many important services to their communities to prevent and combat diabetes, and have recently expressed interest in improving school foods in their communities. They asked the Harvard Mississippi Delta Project to develop this report to provide ideas, examples, and case studies of how similar communities have improved school foods, and to provide background on current school food policies at the federal, state and local level. Local coalitions can play an important role in improving school foods by ensuring that federal, state and local laws are being implemented, and advocating for policy changes at the local level. This report aims to provide helpful research and ideas for advocates to improve school food policy with the goal of reducing obesity and type 2 diabetes among Mississippi's youngest residents.

Created by Sam Block and Elizabeth Guo

In this brief, we provide a guide to available policies that can assist countries in reducing the amount of sugar consumed at a population level to meet the World Health Organization's sugar guideline. We illustrate the available policies, provide examples that have worked and include input from those involved in the development and implementation of these policies.

Created by Bryony Sinclair and Corinna Hawkes 

Mandela MarketPlace works in partnership with local residents, family farmers, and community-based businesses to bring food security and economic opportunities to low-income residents of color in West Oakland, California. This case study discusses the lessons learned from the extensive community planning process and cooperative models of ownership used by Mandela MarketPlace that span the entire food system. 

The purpose of this report is to encourage collaboration between food policy councils and obesity prevention stakeholders by identifying shared policy goals and highlighting opportunities for these groups to support each other. This report is organized into the following sections: (1) FPC work that aligns with obesity prevention goals, (2) major themes from the convening, (3) food policy council needs, and (4) conclusion and next steps.

For far too long, tribal communities have been separated from their lands and disconnected from traditional foods, putting their tribal culture and health in peril. A movement is happening to rewrite this history of inequity. Tribal communities are returning to traditional practices of the past to remedy problems of the present. The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative profiles 40 tribal-led projects that are shaking up current food systems. These are just a snapshot of the exciting efforts improving the health of communities across Indian Country.

This resource describes different types of policies that local governments can use to increase access to healthy food within their communities. When appropriate, this resource provides specific examples. This resource is a starting point to provide context to the types of policies being utilized across Kansas and the United States. 

The Smart Growth Self-Assessment for Rural Communities is a compilation of strategies, organized by 11 common "goal areas," that villages, towns, and small cities can use to evaluate their existing policies to create healthy, environmentally resilient, and economically robust places.  This self-assessment helps communities identify gaps in their policies, plans, codes, and zoning regulations.  It includes resources and examples from communities around the country.

Across the country, more and more cities and counties are making commitments to achieve racial equity. When government focuses on the power and influence of their own institution and works in partnership with others, significant leverage and expansion opportunities emerge, setting the stage for the achievement of racial equity in our communities. This toolkit is based on the lessons learned from practitioners, as well as academic experts and national technical assistance providers.

Created by Julie Nelson, Lauren Spokane, Lauren Ross, Nan Deng

The U.S. food supply chain is deeply interconnected with human and environmental health, as well as social and economic systems. To arrive at a decision whose benefits outweigh its risks, decision makers must carefully consider a broad range of effects and interactions across the health, environmental, social, and economic domains. To aid in this complex analytical process, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council convened an expert committee to develop a framework to assist in food and agriculture decision making. The committee's report, A Framework for Assessing Effects of the Food System, sponsored by The JPB Foundation, presents guiding principles and practical steps to help stakeholders weigh tradeoffs and choose policies that integrate benefits and risks across various domains.

This webinar discusses how local and state food policy councils (FPCs) have the potential to benefit from and even influence food system policies and regulations at the federal level. Learn about how FPCs can seek federal resources for their communities, and bring local issues to the attention of Congress and federal agencies, such as by submitting a comment on proposed legislation or contacting officials. A representative from the USDA also describes the various opportunities through which FPCs can engage with the USDA on the implementation of programs that impact local communities. 

Presented by: Elanor Starmer, Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of Agriculture; Kate Fitzgerald, Food Systems Consultant; and Mark Winne, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future Senior Advisor.

Food access, as well as food insecurity and food production, are concerns now being taken up by a growing number of food policy councils emerging across rural America. Though densely populated areas of the country face similar issues, the physics of time, distance, and human proximity present rural America with a decidedly different set of challenges. This case study highlights the efforts of the Southwest New Mexico Food Policy Council, a four-county regional FPC focused on addressing rural food system challenges.

Created by: Mark Winne.

This report examines local food councils in the state of Michigan and the potential for developing a statewide network of local food policy councils and similar groups. It is based on in-depth analysis of prior local food council network work, interviews with local food council leaders and feedback received from participants in two preliminary local food council network meetings. This report also demonstrates ways a local food council network and participating councils can help move the goals of the Michigan Good Food Charter forward without duplicating the efforts of other local food networks.

Created by Michaelle Rehmann and Kathryn Colasanti