Growing Food Connections is excited to announce the addition of another publication in the Exploring Stories of Innovation series, a series of short articles that explore how local governments from across the United States are strengthening their community’s food system through planning and policy. Leading the Way: A Legacy of Food Systems Planning and Policy Work in Multnomah County, Oregon describes the past decade of  active involvement in food systems planning and program development in Multnomah County.

In addition to this new publication, the Exploring Stories of Innovation series includes:

• Advancing Local Food Policy in Cabarrus County, North Carolina: Successes and Challenges in a Changing Political Climate
• Baltimore City, Maryland: A Food in all Policies Approach in a Post-Industrial City
• Building from the Inside Out in Region 5, Minnesota: A Rural Region’s Effort to Build a Resilient Food System
• Championing Food Systems Policy Change in Seattle, Washington
• Cleveland, Ohio: A Local Government’s Transition from an Urban Agriculture Focus to a Comprehensive Food Systems Policy Approach
• Healthy Food System in the Heartland: Intergovernmental Cooperation in the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas Advances Food Policy
• Lessons From an Agricultural Preservation Leader: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
• Mayoral Leadership Sparks Lasting Food Systems Policy Change in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Multi-level Governmental Support Paves the Way for Local Food in Chittenden County, Vermont
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A Mayor’s Office and Health Department Lead the Way in Municipal Food Policymaking
• Private-Public Partnerships: Cornerstone of Food Systems Planning and Policy in Rural Marquette County, Michigan

Beginning in 2012, Growing Food Connections (GFC) conducted a national scan and identified 299 local governments across the United States that are developing and implementing a range of innovative plans, public programs, regulations, laws, financial investments and other policies to strengthen the food system. GFC conducted exploratory telephone interviews with 20 of these local governments. This series highlights some of the unique planning and policy strategies used by some of these urban and rural local governments to enhance community food security while ensuring sustainable and economically viable agriculture and food production.

For more information and to download these free publications, visit http://growingfoodconnections.org/research/communities-of-innovation/.